There are three main ways to feedback about your experience of our GP Surgery and the service we provide.
Friends and Family Test
The NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) was created to help understand whether patients are happy with the service provided, or where improvements are needed. It’s a quick and anonymous way to give your views after receiving NHS care or treatment.
We use the information captured via the Friends and Family Test to improve our service. It is anonymous, so if you would like to discuss your experience, it is better to contact us through our general feedback form.
Feedback and Compliments
We are continually looking to turn your feedback into real improvements in our services. We use it to focus on what matters most to our patients, their carers and their families.
If you want to share your experience or have a suggestion on how we can do things better to improve our patients’ experiences, please complete the below form. We’d also like to hear from you if you are pleased with the service you’ve received. We’ll let the staff involved know and share the good practice across our teams.
If you can’t complete the form or would find it easier to discuss your experience you can contact the practice via telephone, or in-person.
Complaint Procedure
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.
We hope you do not have cause for complaint but if you do, please contact the practice manager. They will respond to you initially within 3 working days and may phone you to discuss your complaint further. If an investigation is required this will be carried out and you will receive a formal response as soon as possible.
If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:
Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.
Complaints should be addressed to the GP surgery team verbally or in writing. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the GP surgery to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.
What we will do
We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:
– Find out what happened and what went wrong.
– Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
– Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
– Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.
Complaining to NHS England
Alternatively, you may wish to take the complaint to NHS England’s complaints department. NHS England is the commissioner or purchaser of primary care, ie GPs, dentists, opticians, pharmacy and some specialised services.
You can contact the Complaints Team at NHS England:
- By post to:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT - By email to: [email protected] (Please state: ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.)
- By telephone: 0300 311 22 33 (Monday to Friday 8:00 to 18:00, excluding English Bank Holidays)
We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.
However, if you feel you cannot raise the complaint with us directly, please contact NHS England. You can find more information on how to make a complaint at https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/complaining-to-nhse/.
Unhappy with the outcome of your complaint?
If you are not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the GP surgery and NHS England and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use.
To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website or call 0345 015 4033
Need help making a complaint?
If you want help making a complaint, Healthwatch Norfolk can help you find independent NHS complaints advocacy services in your area.