Comments, compliments and complaints

Tell us about your experience

If you have received a particularly good service from any health service provider, or you have any comments or suggestions to make, please let us know.

Compliments

Positive feedback is welcomed and helps us to understand what is important for you as a patient, carer or relative. Your feedback is valuable, and we are grateful for you taking the time. Please send any compliments to sxicb-esx.smp-complaints@nhs.net

Making a Complaint

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. A complaint can be made verbally or in writing. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

What is a complaint?

A complaint is when:

  • you are not happy with an organisation’s service or something it did or didn’t do, and
  • you want the organisation to answer your concerns and put things right.

Top tips when making a complaint

Make your complaint clear

Work out what you want to say, including:

  • what happened
  • who was involved
  • when it happened
  • where it happened
  • how it has affected you or someone else.

Please do not be offensive, rude or threatening.

Decide what you hope to achieve

Be prepared to tell the Practice what you would like it to do to put things right. This could be to apologise or to take action to prevent the same mistake happening again.

How To Make A Complaint

If you would like to speak to someone about your complaint, please speak with one of our Receptionists in the first instance, who will be happy to take your details and arrange for a manager to contact you.

If you would prefer to make a written complaint, please use the following email address:

sxicb-esx.smp-complaints@nhs.net

Alternatively you can write to us via a letter, addressing the letter to:

Complaints Manager

Seaford Medical Centre

Dane Road, Seaford BN25 1DH.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned.

If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks, because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

If it is not possible to do that, please let us have the details of your complaint within 12 months of the occurrence giving rise to the complaint, or from the time that you became aware of the matter.

What We Will Do

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days. We will attempt to investigate and provide a detailed response as quickly as possible. Some complaints may take longer than others to investigate so we do not want to offer any specific timescale. However we will endeavour to conduct a full and thorough investigation in the shortest time period possible.

When We Look Into Your Complaint We Will Aim To:

  • Find out what happened and what went wrong
  • Make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate
  • Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A signed consent form by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable of providing this (because of illness).

If you need help with making a complaint you can contact:

The Advocacy People

Website: www.theadvocacypeople.org.uk

Telephone: 0330 440 9000

Email: info@theadvocacypeople.org.uk

Text: PEOPLE to 80800 followed by your message

Write: PO Box 375, Hastings, TN34 9HU

Complaints are best made direct to the practice, as we hold your medical records and employ staff directly. Alternatively, if you do not want to contact the practice directly, your complaint can be made to the Complaints Team at NHS Sussex via the contact details below:

• Phone: 0300 140 9854 (excluding weekends and bank holidays)
• Email: sxicb.complaints@nhs.net
• Post: NHS Sussex, Sackville House, Brooks Close, Lewes BN7 2FZ

PALS

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters. They provide a point of contact for patients, their families and their carers.

How can PALS help?

PALS provides help in many ways. For example, it can:

  • help you with health-related questions
  • help resolve concerns or problems when you’re using the NHS
  • tell you how to get more involved in your own healthcare

PALS can give you information about:

  • the NHS
  • the NHS complaints procedure, including how to get independent help if you want to make a complaint
  • support groups outside the NHS

PALS also helps to improve the NHS by listening to your concerns and suggestions.

Patient advice and liaison services (PALS): Eastbourne District General Hospital

PALS Contact Telephone Number: 01323 435886

If You Are Not Satisfied With Our Response

We hope that if you have a problem, we will be able to provide you with a full explanation and tell you what action we are taking. However, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you can take the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, who can be contacted at:

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Tower 30, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

Tel:  01450154033