We welcome all suggestions and comments on the services provided by the practice.

We endeavour to give our patients the best care and attention possible. We regularly review our service and complaints/suggestions allow us to see areas in which we can improve.

We are continually looking to turn our patients’ feedback into real improvements in the services we provide. We use it to focus on the things that matter most to our patients, carers and their families.

We would like to hear from you if you have a suggestion or comment on how we can do things better to improve our patients’ experiences.

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 would like to submit a suggestion or comment please use our Feedback form, or if you wish to keep your feedback anonymous, you can use our Friends and Family Test form.

Complaints Procedure

Making a Complaint

Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily with the person concerned, often at the time they arise and this may be the approach you try first.

Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint, you should do so, preferably in writing as soon as possible after the event, and ideally within a few days, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be:

• within 12 months of the incident
• or, within 12 months of you becoming aware of the matter.

If you are a registered patient you can complain about your own care. You are unable to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority.

We are able to provide you with a separate complaints form to register your complaint and this includes a third-party authority form to enable a complaint to be made by someone else. Please ask at Reception for this. You can provide this in your own format providing this covers all the necessary aspects.

Send your written complaint to the practice Complaints Manager at the surgery address below, or via email to ohs.orchardhouse@nhs.net.

Send your written complaint to Megan Quinlan, the Practice Complaints Manager:

Practice Complaints Manager,
Orchard House Surgery,
Fred Archer Way,
Newmarket,
Suffolk,
CB8 8NU

What We do Next

We look to settle complaints as soon as possible.

We aim to acknowledge receipt within three working days, and to resolve the matter as soon as possible and will try to give you some idea of how long that may take at the outset. You will then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than this we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

When looking into a complaint we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved if you wish to do so.

When the investigations are complete a final written response will be sent to you.

Where your complaint has been sent initially to an incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward this to the correct person to deal with.

Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it. In the event the patient is deceased, then we may agree to respond to a family member or anyone acting on their behalf or who has had an interest in the welfare of the patient.

Please ask at reception for the Complaints Form which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed.

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness, accident or mental capacity, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances that prevent this in your covering letter.

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply. You may also find that if you are complaining on behalf of a child who is capable of making their own complaint, we will expect that child to contact us themselves to lodge their complaint.

We may still need to correspond direct with the patient or may be able to deal direct with the third party and this depends on the wording of the authority provided.

If you are Dissatisfied with the Outcome

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you have the right to approach the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. The contact details are:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Citygate
Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3HQ
Telephone: 0345 0154033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

You may also approach Health Watch or the Suffolk Advocacy Service for help or advice;

The local Health Watch
Website: www.healthwatch.co.uk
Telephone: 03000 68 3000

Suffolk Advocacy Service | Home | POhWER
Website: www.pohwer.nwt/suffolk-advocacy-service
Telephone: 0300 456 2370

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can provide confidential advice and support, helping to guide you through different public and local services. The contact details are:

Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS)
Suffolk North East Essex ICB
Endeavour House 8 Russell Road Ipswich
IP1 2BX

Telephone: 0800 389 6819 (between 9:30am and 3pm, Monday to Friday)
Email: sneeicb.pals@nhs.net