Patient Complaint Procedure

If you have a complaint or concern about the service that you have received from the doctors or staff working for Millbank Medical Centre, you are entitled to ask for an explanation.  We operate an in-house Practice Complaints Procedure for dealing with complaints which is in line with the NHS Complaints Procedure.

How to Complain

Complaints should be put in writing and addressed to the Practice Manager (you can use the form provided on this page), at the surgery address, who will ensure that all complaints received are investigated thoroughly and as quickly as possible.  Complaints should be made as soon as possible after the problem occurred and must be within twelve months of the date on which the matter, which is the subject of the complaint, came to the notice of the complainant.

Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

Please note that the Practice keeps strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality which means that if you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must have their written consent in order to investigate the complaint.

What We Will Do

Once a complaint has been received at the Practice, it will be acknowledged within 3 working days and will aim to have fully investigated within 25 working days of the date received. If investigations are expected to exceed the 25 day period, we will contact you to explain the reason for the delay and inform you of an estimated completion date. Your complaint will be fully investigated with relevant members of the Practice team.  It may be necessary for us to contact you directly if further information is required.  When the complaint has been investigated you will receive a written response.

We hope that if you have a complaint you will use our in-house complaints procedure as we believe that this will give us the best chance of putting the problem right and an opportunity to improve our practice. 

If you need support to make your complaint, contact NHS Complaints Advocacy Service, Helpline: 0300 330 5454 or visit www.voiceability.org

Taking it Further

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can contact:

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP.  Telephone: 0345 0154033, Fax: 0207 217 4940

Textphone: 0207 217 4066, email www.ombudsman.org.uk

Complaints to NHS England

Should a complainant have issues about a service that NHS England has directly commissioned, the first action should be to resolve complaints and concerns with their local service provider if possible. NHS England refers to this as ‘informal complaint resolution,’ and it is in conformity with the Complaints Regulations of 2009.

If raising a concern informally is not suitable, or if informal resolution does not result in a satisfying outcome, the complainant has the option of filing a formal complaint with either the service provider or NHS England’s commissioner.

These details can be used to receive a complaint or concern via post, email, or phone:

By telephone: 03003 11 22 33

Via email:  england.contactus@nhs.net.

By postal service:

Redditch, B97 9PT, NHS England, PO Box 16738