Making a complaint about South Downs Health services

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Making a complaint about South Downs Health
services
Author J Aparo, PALS Complaints Manager.
Version 1. Date 01.10.09
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Complaints about South Downs Services

• South Downs Health NHS Trust welcomes comments
  and complaints as these help us to find out how
  to improve our services.
• We treat all complaints seriously and try to
  handle complaints sensitively.
• Making a complaint should never adversely affect
  the care you receive. Please let us know if you
  have any concerns about this.
• All complaints made to us will be kept strictly
  confidential. The only members of staff who will
  receive information about the complainant are
  those who need to have this information in order
  to carry out any investigation. This may include
  very senior managers and complaints service
  staff.

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Making a complaint

• You can make a complaint to us
• In person
• By telephone
• In writing, either by letter or by filling in the
  form in the PALS Complaints leaflet
• By email

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Making a complaint

• You can raise your issues in a number of ways
• By contacting a person who takes care of you, or
• By contacting the manager of the service you wish
  to complain about, or
• By contacting the Patient Advice and Liaison
  Service (PALS) and Complaints Team, or
• By contacting any member of South Downs NHS staff
  you feel comfortable in talking to

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Useful tips when making a complaint

• Tell us which service you are complaining about
• Tell us what you are unhappy with and why
• Tell us what you would like done about your
  complaints. Explain what you are hoping to
  achieve
• Tell us key dates and give as much relevant
  detail as you can
• Tell us the name of the member of staff you are
  complaining about, or their job title, if you
  know it
• Tell us how you would like us to respond to you

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Who handles your complaint?

• Complaints are generally handled by the service
  concerned. This is because the service will have
  a good local grasp of the issues and it is
  important that they hear and learn from
  complaints about the services they provide.
• If you are unhappy with this as a way forward,
  please contact the PALS and Complaints Team to
  raise your concerns. Please note that any person
  who has been directly complained about should
  never handle your complaint.
• The PALS and Complaints Team review the work of
  the Service handling the complaint and can also
  offer you advice and support about your complaint
  and the procedure.

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What happens next?

• South Downs Health aims to resolve verbally made
  complaints within one working day where
  possible.
• Where this is not possible, or for any written
  complaint, South Downs Health will aim to write
  to you to acknowledge receipt of your complaint
  within three working days.
• In that acknowledgement letter we will ask to
  contact you - at your convenience - to discuss
  how you would like us to handle your complaint
  and agree a plan to resolve your issues.
• This agreement is known as a Complaints Plan.

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The Complaints Plan

• Please tell us what you would like us to do to
  try and resolve your complaint
• For example you might choose a combination of
• A formal apology
• A meeting
• An explanation
• An investigation
• An outline of actions that will be taken
• We will try to agree a way forward with you for
  your Complaints Plan

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The Complaints Plan

• In your Complaints Plan, we will also agree a
  reasonable date by which we will respond back to
  you in full
• You should then receive a copy of your Complaints
  Plan. If there is anything in it which you dont
  agree with, please let us know as soon as
  possible so that it can be amended
• If we cannot contact you to agree the Complaints
  Plan South Downs Health will make one on your
  behalf and send a copy to you. Again, if you are
  unhappy with it, please get in touch as soon as
  possible so that it can be amended

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The response

• South Downs Health will then make every effort to
  carry out the Complaints Plan.
• If for any reason we are unable to do this, or
  there is an unexpected delay in the process, we
  will let you know as soon as possible.
• Once the plan has been completed you should
  receive a letter from the person handling your
  complaint. This letter will explain what has been
  done and, where applicable, outline any further
  actions that will be taken to prevent a similar
  situation from arising in the future.
• You will also receive a letter from a very senior
  staff member showing that they have read and
  understood your complaint and South Downs
  Healths response. This letter will explain what
  you can do if you still remain dissatisfied.

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If you remain dissatisfied

• South Downs Health hopes that we will be able to
  resolve your concerns at the first attempt by
  agreeing a clear and comprehensive plan and
  carrying it out. However we recognise that you
  may still be dissatisfied.
• If you remain unhappy, please tell us as we would
  like to ensure that we have done everything we
  can to help restore your confidence in us and to
  put matters right.
• You also have the right to go to the
  Parliamentary and Health Ombudsmans Office
  (PHSO) within one year of the date of our final
  response. They will look at your case and decide
  whether we have done everything we could have
  done to resolve it.