How to give your views. Compliments, comments or complaints

Staff work hard to provide a high standard of care, but sometimes things do go wrong.
When they do, we want to to put things right as quickly as we can and to learn from them.

Our staff can help

Any concerns or problemsare often best dealt with when they arise. So we always encourage you to raise concerns with a member of staff who knows you and your situation, or their manager. Staff will always try to resolve your concerns promptly.

If you are still unhappy or would prefer to speak to someone separate from the service, you can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team.

How can PALS help me?

We are here to:

give advice and support to service users, families and carers;
provide information on NHS services;
help sort out problems quickly, so you
don’t have to go through the formal complaints system. PALS aims to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

We will listen carefully and wherever possible, we will do something about what you tell us.

If you wish to make a formal complaint, we can also help you do this and can guide you through the process.

How do I complain?

To make a complaint you can:

Telephone PALS: Tel: 01225 362900/
Freephone: 0800 073 1778
Write to the Chief Executive at the address on the back of this leaflet
Email - awp.pals@nhs.net
Patients, family and carers, staff or any member of the public have the right to take complaints relating to the Mental Health Act to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). You can do this by calling them on 03000 616161 (press ‘1’ to speak to the mental health team) or by emailing enquiries@cqc.org.uk

Who can make a complaint?

A current or former service user;
A relative, carer or advocate on behalf of a service user, if the service user has given consent;
Someone on behalf of the service user after they have died;
Someone on behalf of a service user who is a child or who is unable to complain themselves because of their mental or physical condition;
Relatives, friends or visitors about the service they themselves have received.

What will happen next?

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.

You can expect a thorough investigation and response. We may arrange a meeting between you and relevant managers to discuss your concerns.

When the investigation is finished, we will write to you within a timescale agreed with you.

Occasionally, the Trust may not be able to reply as quickly as this. If so, we will let you know what progress is being made.

Confidentiality

Remember that the Trust cannot share clinical information about a service user with relatives or friends without the service user’s permission, except when the service user is a child or is unable to make their own decisions because of illness.

Independent complaint advocacy services

These services provide free advice and support to people who want to formally complain about NHS services. Please contact PALS for details of local complaint advocacy services.

Information about the NHS complaints procedure is also on the Department of Health’s website.

What if I am unhappy with the reply?

Please let us know. It may be that the Trust needs to do more or have a meeting with you and other staff to talk about and sort out your outstanding concerns.

What if I am still unhappy?

If you are still unhappy after the Trust has looked into your complaint again you can ask the Ombudsman to investigate for you:

Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank London, SW1P 4QP

Email: www.ombudsman.org.uk

You need to go through the NHS complaints procedure before the Ombudsman will look into your case. The Ombudsman is not obliged to look into every case.