Feedback and complaints

Chorlton Family Practice: Comments, complaints and suggestions

Our aim is to provide the highest level of care for all our patients.  If there is any way that you think that we can improve the service we provide, please let us know.

Giving feedback

To provide feedback:

Making a complaint

If you have any complaints or concerns about the service that you have received from the doctors or staff working for this practice, please let us know.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem or within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided that is within 12 months of the incident.

You can make your complaint in any way you choose. You can call us on 0161 881 4545, fill out the feedback form above, put it in writing, or visit the surgery.

What we shall do

Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible.

We aim to have looked into your complaint promptly, but please allow us time to do so.

We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved.

When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:

  • Find out what happened and what went wrong.
  • Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this.
  • Make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate.
  • Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

At the end of the investigation your complaint will be discussed with you in detail, either in person or in writing. All complaints are discussed at practice meeting on a monthly basis with clinical and non-clinical staff.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality.

If you wish to make a complaint but are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient. This is to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it.

Please ask at reception for a complaints form which includes a statement of authority that the patient can sign. Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this in your covering letter. Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the above circumstances apply.

Confidentiality

All complaints must be treated in the strictest confidence.

Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, the practice manager must inform the patient or person acting on his or her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the practice or an employee of the practice.

The surgery must keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints but such records must be kept separate from the patient’s medical records.

The surgery has an annual review of complaints received within the year and the learning issues or changes to procedures which have arisen are documented.