Raising your concerns - First Steps

Step One - What do you want to complain about?

Before you start, it is important to be clear for yourself what it is you want to complain about. This can be any aspect of the NHS care and services that you have received, but might include:

  • Treatment or care
  • The attitude of staff
  • Poor communication
  • Waiting times
  • Lack of information
  • Failure to diagnose a condition.

Here are some “real-life” examples of recent complaints:

  • An emergency ambulance took over an hour to arrive
  • A patient was given incorrect information about a medical procedure and suffered pain as a result 
  • A GP refused to do a home visit
  • An elderly patient frequently had to wait a long time for routine transport home from hospital appointments
  • A patient felt that a nurse had treated him without respect

Useful tip: write down now what you want to complain about as simply and clearly as you can so that you can refer back to it later.

Step Two - What do you want to achieve

Think about what you want to achieve. Your complaint is more likely to be dealt with smoothly if you can be specific and realistic.

When raising a concern with the NHS you can expect:

  • To be treated with respect and courtesy
  • To be offered support to help you raise your concerns
  • A speedy solution to be offered where possible
  • An explanation of what happened
  • An apology if appropriate
  • Changes to be made so that the same thing will not happen to anyone else
  • Better communication between NHS staff and patients

ICAS can only support you if your complaint is about NHS funded healthcare

There are some limits on what can be achieved using the NHS Complaints Procedure. Where the outcome you are looking for would be more likely to be achieved through another route our Advocate can explain this and give you information about who best to contact instead.

Financial compensation for clinical negligence

  • This is usually possible only through legal action
  • You need to speak to a solicitor who specialises in medical or clinical negligence
  • There are time limits for making a legal claim and it is best to contact a solicitor within three years of the incident

Disciplinary action against any NHS staff member

  • The NHS Complaints Procedure cannot be used to take disciplinary action against a member of NHS staff
  • This could however, happen under a separate procedure as a result of an investigation into your complaint

Private healthcare complaints

  • If you have paid for private treatment or used medical insurance you cannot use the NHS Complaints Procedure to make a complaint. The private healthcare service will have its own complaints procedure that you can follow
  • If, however, your treatment was funded by the NHS you can still use the NHS complaints procedure

Care home and nursing home complaints

  • If the care home or nursing home is paid for by the NHS you can make a complaint using the NHS Complaints Procedure
  • If the care home or nursing home is paid for privately you cannot make a complaint using the NHS Complaints Procedure. Most care homes and nursing homes will, however, have their own complaints procedure so you can make a complaint using this

Step Three - How should you go ahead?

Who do I raise a concern with ?

Once you are clear on what you are unhappy about you need to decide how best to do this. There are different ways that you can do this and it helps to think about what you feel comfortable with. You could:

Speak to a member of staff directly

  • Many complaints are caused by misunderstandings or communication that can be put right once you explain the problem. If you feel able to, you can speak to a member of staff who is directly involved in your treatment, or their manager, about what you are unhappy about. This is often the quickest way to put things right and stop them getting worse.

Speak to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

  • If you feel uncomfortable directly contacting the NHS staff yourself or you have tried and it has not resolved your issues, then a service called PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) may be able to help you.

  • PALS provides information, advice and support to patients, families and their carers and can help you get answers to your questions quickly. See the PALS factsheet enclosed in this pack to find out more about the service.

Click here to find out more about PALS.

Look at the “pros and cons”

The NHS Complaints Procedure may be the best route to follow if:

  • You have raised your concerns but they have not been resolved fully
  • What happened raises serious questions about standards of care
  • You wish to raise complex issues which require investigation
  • The issues involved concern more than one organisation

Making a complaint using the NHS Complaints Procedure may not be the best route to follow at this stage if:

  • Staff have listened to your complaint and you have already been offered a range of options to resolve what went wrong (for example, a meeting or second opinion on your treatment)
  • Staff have listened to your complaint and acted to put right any harm or damage you suffered
  • Staff have shown you how they have learned any lessons and reviewed their procedures and practice as a result of what happened to you.

To sum up

  • Think about whether you have a complaint to make
  • Can you resolve the problem by speaking to a member of staff directly or by speaking to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
  • Think about the “pros and cons” of making a complaint which are most important to you
  • What are the downsides?
  • Who else will be affected, and how?
  • What information do you need to have or to get before you can decide whether to make a complaint?

Useful tip: You may find it useful to obtain a copy of the health records concerned (click here to find out how to do this (opens a new window))

If you decide to go ahead
Making a complaint can be quite complicated and lengthy (writing letters, remembering deadlines, keeping notes of phone calls etc.) so we have provided helpful hints and guidelines on this site to help you manage your complaint.

It can also be upsetting having to think and talk about what has happened, especially if something has gone very badly wrong with your treatment or a relative or friend has died. If you feel you would like extra help at any time, you can contact the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS). 

ICAS staff, known as advocates, can:

  • Give you an opportunity to speak confidentially to someone who is independent of the NHS
  • Explore the options available to you at every stage of the complaints procedure
  • Help you with writing effective letters to the right people
  • Prepare you for and go to meetings with you
  • Contact and speak to third parties if you wish them to
  • Act on your direction rather than the wishes of others

Your advocate will not try to persuade you to do or not do anything and will always respect your decisions. Click here to find contact details for your nearest ICAS office.

More information to help you

If you would like advice on how to write a complaint letter, please take a look at our online complaint letter guide and sample complaint letter. We also have more in-depth information about the NHS complaints procedure for you to read, as well as a page of answers to frequently asked questions, which you may find helpful.

These pages (and others) are also accessible from the Making a Complaint menu toward the top of the page.

 

Carers Services

ICAS Information