Practice Complaints Procedure

Who can complain?

You can complain if you are:

A patient or former patient

A person likely to be affected by a decision taken by our organisation

Someone authorised by an existing or former patient to act on their behalf e.g. a patient’s parent, carer, guardian or a visitor; MSP, MP, MEP or local Councillor; or an advocacy worker or member of any independent advice and support organisation.

Where someone makes a complaint for you, they must be able to demonstrate that they have obtained your consent, normally in writing, to make a complaint on your behalf.

In the case of a deceased patient, a right to pursue a complaint may rest with their personal representative or executor.

What I can complain about

Care or treatment provided by or through the NHS

Anything to do with the place where you are seen

Any member of staff involved in your care

How services in your local area are organised (if this has affected your care and treatment).

What I cannot complain about

There are some things we cannot look into under the NHS complaints procedure, these include:-

Private health care or treatment; or

Something you are taking legal action about or are seeking compensation.

How do I make a complaint?

We hope that most problems can be sorted out quickly and with little fuss and so we invite you to speak directly to the Practice Manager, in the first instance.  If they cannot see you immediately you will be given the earliest possible appointment to discuss the matter.

If you feel your problem cannot be sorted out in this way, please write to us as soon as possible after the event with the details.  This will allow us to establish exactly what happened more easily. Normally you must make your complaint within 6 months of you becoming aware that you have reason to complain, provided this is not more than 12 months after the event occurred. Sometimes we can accept a complaint after this time limit, provided we are still able to investigate your complaint. Written complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager who will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly.

The Next Step

What happens after I have complained?

• We will write to you within 3 working days to acknowledge receipt of your complaint
• We may contact you for more information, or to discuss your complaint, or to suggest a meeting
• We will investigate the issues raised and will aim to reply within 20 working days.
• In some cases, we may need more time to reply. If this is so, we will let you know and tell you why.

Confidentiality

Staff involved in dealing with your complaint may have access to your health records to enable them to investigate your complaint fully. Staff doing this are required to respect the confidentiality of your health information.

Independent Advice

Independent advice or help about making a complaint is available free from the Patient Advice & Support Service (PASS). You can phone them on 0141 775 3220 or make contact via your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Additionally for mental health service users you may contact one of a number of local advocacy services. Details of these are available from the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance on 0131 260 5380.

What if I am not happy about the way the Practice handled my complaint?

Now that you have completed our complaints procedure, you have the right to ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to consider your complaint. The SPSO is the final stage for complaints about most organizations providing public services in Scotland.  Their service is independent, free and confidential.

The SPSO cannot normally look at complaints more than 12 months after you became aware of the matter you want to complain about or complaints that have been or are being considered in Court.

You may contact the SPSO directly.  Their details are:

In person: SPSO - 4 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7NS  

Tel: 0800 377 7330 or 0131 225 5300

By post: SPSO - Freepost EH641, Edinburgh, EH3 0BR