Making a formal complaint

The PALS team and the complaints team are separate departments; however, both will make every effort to resolve your concerns. If our ward staff or PALS team have been unable to resolve your concerns in the first instance, you can raise a formal complaint regarding any aspect of the service or care provided by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The NHS complaint standards define a complaint as “an expression of dissatisfaction, either spoken or written, that requires a response”. It can be about:

• an act, omission or decision we have made or that a service we commission has made
• the standard of service we have provided or a service we commission has provided.

Please be assured that raising concerns about your hospital experience will not affect your hospital treatment in any way; complaint files are not recorded on an individual’s medical record.

We welcome and value all feedback as this allows the Trust to learn an improve services were appropriate as well as provide a better patient experience.

Timescales for making a complaint

The statutory time limit for making a complaint is 12 months from the date on which the matter being complained about occurred, or 12 months from the date on which the complainant first became aware that they have grounds for complaint, whichever is the latest.

Who can make a complaint?

As set out in the 2009 Regulations, any person may make a complaint to the Trust if they have received or are receiving care and services from the organisation. A person may also complain to us if they are not in direct receipt of our care or services but are affected, or likely to be affected by, any action, inaction or decision by the organisation.

If you are raising a complaint on behalf of the person affected, we will need their consent. Please see below forms to be completed (complete where relevant).

How to make a complaint

you can raise a complaint in the following ways:

• Call the Complaints Office on 01923 217866
• Email westherts.complaintsteam@nhs.net
• Write a letter to the Complaints Office:

If you submit a verbal complaint to the complaints team, it will need to be transcribed and sent back to you to ensure that it captures everything, which can slow the process down, so we would encourage you to email us if you are able to.

If you write or contact the Chief Executive or his office about a complaint, then it will be referred to the complaints team to manage under our local trust complaints process.

When raising a complaint please include the following information:

• Full name, date of birth, NHS number, address and contact number
• Detailed description of the concerns which includes dates, locations and names of staff involved, where possible.
• Your expectations as a result of your complaint

Alternately, it would be useful if you could complete the Complaints Proforma:

What happens next?

We will aim to acknowledge your formal complaint within three working days and provide you with more information about the process.

The complaint will be investigated by the appropriate services, and you will receive a written response. If we are able to learn and improve as a result of your complaint, we will tell you about this in the written response.

Every effort is made to respond to complaints in writing within 60 working days or by an alternative agreed date.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaint, please contact the Complaints Team who will discuss with you further options in which a resolution can be achieved. In order to facilitate this, you must re-approach the Trust within three months of the date on the initial response letter.

Alternatively, if you remain dissatisfied, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman makes final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS, government departments and some other public organisations. The service is free for everyone. To refer a complaint to the Ombudsman, go to www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint or call 0345 015 4033. It is important that you make the complaint as soon as you receive our final response as there are time limits for the Ombudsman to investigate complaints:

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Further support

If you require any further support, POhWER is a national service that supports people who wish to make a complaint about NHS care or treatment. The service is free, confidential, and independent: 

Telephone: 0300 456 2370
Minicom: 0300 456 2364
Email: pohwer@pohwer.net
Website: www.pohwer.net

Additional information

Please note that making a complaint will not expedite any clinical appointments and surgery dates.

The complaints department does not deal with any legal queries or claims – please see leaflet on ‘Thinking of Making a Claim’ which provides the relevant information.