It is the sincere aim and objective of this Practice to always give a professional and personable service, but there may be times when you feel that this has not happened. We hope that you will use the information provided and allow us to investigate, and if possible, correct any problems you have identified or mistakes that have been made.

Please raise your complaint in the first instance to the Practice and allow us to investigate to see what went wrong and how we can improve the service we provide to our patients.

 

COMPLAINT TO: RINGWOOD MEDICAL PRACTICE

We believe that it is important to deal with complaints swiftly. You will therefore receive a formal acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days and a written response within 10 working days. You may be offered the facility to discuss your complaint at the Practice, and a friend or relative may accompany you.

We will try to address your concerns fully, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed. We hope that we will satisfy your concerns through our actions.    

Our Practice procedure is not able to deal with the questions of legal liability or compensation.   Please note that we must respect our duty of confidentiality to our patients and a patient’s consent will be needed if a complaint is made by a third party.

Should you wish to make a formal complaint, please email hiowicb-hsi.ringwoodmc-admin@nhs.net or alternatively you may wish to write to our Practice Manager Andy Hallowell or telephone 01425 478901.

 

 

From 1 July 2023 the way people can make a complaint about primary care services (GP, dental services, pharmacies, opticians) is changing, as the responsibility moves from NHS England to the Integrated Care Boards. There will continue to be two ways people can make a complaint:

 

• The ICB will continue to encourage people to make their complaint directly with the service provider, eg the Practice Manager, who can quickly access the persons relevant medical records and speak to the staff involved, and therefore may be able to resolve the matter more promptly.
• Alternatively, people may choose to take their complaint to the relevant commissioner. From 01 July 2023, rather than contacting NHS England, people will be directed to the Complaints team, hosted by NHS Frimley, working on behalf of Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) and all the other ICB’s in the SE region (Berkshire West, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (BOB), Frimley, Kent & Medway, Surrey Heartlands and Sussex). This is in line with the national move to a system-based approach to improve and strengthen partnership working as set out in the NHS England operating framework.

 

The team are experienced complaint resolution handlers providing a comprehensive service for patients and carers. They will also provide local analysis to support the commissioning and design of health service improvements that better meets HIOW ICB local priorities.

 

The Primary Care Complaints Team contact details are:

South East Complaints Hub NHS Frimley ICB Aldershot Centre for Health Hospital Hill Aldershot Hampshire GU11 1AY

Phone number: 0300 561 0290

Email address: Frimleyicb.southeastcomplaints@nhs.net

 

Information governance regulations mean that the emails sent to the old NHSE complaints email address after 1 July, cannot be automatically forwarded and the inbox will not be accessible. People will therefore receive an automatic response, asking them to resend their email to the new address.

 

Members of the public with ongoing complaints received after 1 July 2022 will receive a letter from NHS England informing them that the Complaints team based in the South East Complaints Hub, hosted by NHS Frimley ICB will now be handling their complaint with confirmation of their case handler.

 

There is no change for people wishing to make a complaint for specialised services, health and justice, screening and immunisations and Continuing Healthcare.

 

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However, if you still feel dissatisfied and feel that you cannot address your further concerns to the Practice, you can complain to the:

Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman

Citygate, 51 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HQ

Telephone: 0345 015 4033

email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk