Compliments, concerns and complaints
Compliments
Our staff are committed to providing the highest standards of care and treating you with courtesy and respect. Compliments are a helpful way of letting us know when we’re getting this right. You can let us know what you think in person, over the phone or in writing.
Concerns and complaints
If you have a concern about your care, treatment or experience with us, please raise it with the team involved in your care in the first instance.
An important part of their job is to listen to what you have to say and to try and respond to any concerns. They are best placed to provide you with an explanation about why something has or hasn’t been done. The majority of concerns can be resolved quickly and easily this way.
Formal complaints
If you want to make a formal complaint, our Patient Advice and Liaison Service
(PALS) can discuss this with you and agree how to take this forward. Find out about PALS.
If you feel uncomfortable about making a complaint, you can nominate a friend or member of your family to act on your behalf. We will need your written consent before we can share personal information with them.
To make a complaint about a service or the care you’ve received at the Trust, please contact our complaints team.
You can email to: complaints@westlondon.nhs.uk
Or by calling: 020 8354 8174
Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm
You can also make a complaint by filling in our form online
Your complaint will be investigated thoroughly and in confidence. Once the investigation is complete, we’ll send you a response in the format requested, for example by letter or email.
If you want to make a formal complaint, you should do so within 12 months of the date of the issue or event, or within 12 months of becoming aware that you have a complaint. If you leave it any later, we may not be able to help. This period may be extended where there are good reasons why the complaint couldn’t not be made earlier.
When we receive your complaint, we’ll:
- We will contact you – usually withing 3 working days to acknowledge receipt of your complaint and to let you know about the next steps
- Where appropriate, investigate it
- Where relevant, let you know what went wrong and what we’re doing to put things right.
Next steps we may take
- If an investigation is necessary, we may need to meet with you to get as much detail as possible so that we can be certain that we look into all aspects of your complaint
- We’ll write to you when the investigation is complete to explain what has happened and apologise if we have failed in any way. We’ll also let you know what action we’ve taken to put the matter right and make improvements, where necessary
- Where your complaint includes the actions of another NHS organisation or Social Services, we’ll aim to work with these organisations so that you receive a single response about all the issues you’ve raised.
We’ll contact you if there’s any delay in responding to your complaint.
Once we’ve looked into your concerns and sent you our response, we’ll check that you’re happy with our response and the way in which we’ve dealt with it.
If you’re not satisfied with our response
We’re usually able to resolve issues and complaints, but if you’re not satisfied and feel that we haven’t been able to resolve your complaint, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman at:
Millbank Tower
Millbank
SW1P 4QP
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Phone: 0345 015 4033
If your complaint relates to social care services, such as health visitors or school nurses, for example, please contact the Local Government Ombudsman, find your nearest one on the LGO website or by calling their helpline on 0300 061 0614.
You can get help from independent complaints advocacy services if you need help to put your complaint in writing. These services can support you in making a complaint and give you advice about using the complaints system.
They can also write letters on your behalf, help you prepare you for meetings and go to meetings with you, if needed.
Voice Ability Independent Complaints Advocacy (Hounslow)
Telephone: 0300 330 5454
Textphone: 0786 002 2939
Email: nhscomplaints@voiceability.org
Or visit their website.
POhWER Independent Complaints Advocacy (Ealing)
Telephone: 0203 5535 960 or 0300 456 2370
Minicom: 0300 456 2364
Text: send the word ’pohwer’ with your name and number to 81025
Email: pohwer@pohwer.net
Skype: pohwer.advocacy
Or visit their website.
Contact the advocacy service on 01344 75 4598 or 01344 75 4623.