If you want to complain about a hospital or an ambulance service contact the Complaints Manager or the Chief Executive of the NHS Trust.
If you are not clear where to send your complaint ask for advice from Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) or the Complaints Department at the hospital or from ICAS. Alternatively, most hospital Trusts have details of how to contact them about complaints on their website.
If your complaint concerns more than one NHS organisation you only need to send a letter to one of the organisations. They will liaise with the other organisation(s) involved and provide a co-ordinated response.
For complaints about primary care and independent providers such as your GP, dentist, optician, pharmacist, health centre or other independent NHLS contractor, you have two options:
- You can complain directly to the NHS organisation by contacting the person in charge of complaints. In most GP and dental practices, this will be the Practice Manager or
- You can complain to the Primary Care Trust (PCT). The PCT is responsible for care in your local area and they work closely with primary care practitioners such as GPs and dentists.
The letter should clearly outline your complaint and should ask for it to be investigated under the NHS Complaints Procedure. If you are writing on behalf of someone else who is a patient, rather than for yourself, you must show that you have the patient’s permission. (We have included a consent and confidentiality form in the information pack which you could use).
Note: If you choose to make a complaint directly to the organisation (option a), and you are not satisfied with their response you cannot then raise the same issue with the PCT but must go directly to the Health Service Ombudsman (HSO).
Helpful tips
Be brief
- try to keep your complaint to no more than two pages
- be careful not to lose your main points in a long letter
- if the complaint is long and complex, attach a log sheet or diary of events with details.
- use short sentences
- don’t be afraid to say what has upset you, avoid aggressive or accusing language
- try not to repeat yourself.
- your complaint is an opportunity to improve things
- put your concerns politely but firmly.
- explain what you would like to achieve as a result of your complaint e.g. an apology, an explanation, a service improvement, any other remedy.
Send photocopies of documents, not originals - keep the original documents in your possession.
Make sure your letter is received - you may wish to send it by guaranteed or recorded delivery.
What happens next?
You should receive a letter of acknowledgement within three working days.
The NHS should contact you to discuss your complaint and arrange a plan to resolve your concerns with you. This means that they will discuss how best to resolve your concerns and what you hope to achieve from raising them. They should also agree with you a timescale for resolving the issues and keep you informed of progress. The suggested timescales can be influenced by things like how many staff they need to speak to, how easy it is for them to access your medical records and if other NHS organisations are involved in your complaint. If there is a problem in keeping to this timescale they should contact you before it expires to agree an amended timescale.
If your complaint involves a service that is provided in partnership with the NHS, such as some Social Services there is a separate complaints procedure for Social Services. In these cases you may need more advice, so do not hesitate to contact ICAS. Although ICAS can only help with NHS complaints, we will point you in the right direction of where to get help with other parts of your complaint that involve a non NHS organisation. You will only need to send a letter to one of the organisations who will liaise with the others involved and provide you with a co-ordinated response.
