Suggestions & Complaints
Want to make a suggestion to the practice?
Your comments and suggestions are important to us, please click on the link and complete the form to send them to us. Please only use this form for comments about the practice and suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you.
Medical matters and official complaints cannot be dealt with via this form.
Want to make a complaint?
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To pursue a complaint please complete this form and we will deal with your concerns appropriately.
Making a Complaint
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible. We are happy to speak to patients verbally if they do not wish to put their complaint in writing and if that is the case, please ask to speak to a member of the team.
Where you feel the issue has not been settled with one of our team or you would prefer to formalise your complaint please put your concerns in writing. Your complaint must be made as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, giving as much detail as you can, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be:
- Within 12 months of the incident,
- or within 12 months of you becoming aware of the matter
Please send/email your written complaint to: The Practice Manager, Central Surgery, Surbiton Health Centre, Ewell Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 6EZ.
If you are emailing us, for GDPR purposes please provide written consent that we can respond back to you via your email address.
You may also make your complaint directly to NHS England, who commissions our service:
By telephone: 0800 026 6082
By email: contactus@swlondon.nhs.uk
By post: NHS South West London ICB, 120 The Broadway, Wimbledon London SW19 1RH
You are not normally able to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority. See under the separate section in this leaflet ‘Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else’
What We Do Next
We aim to settle complaints as soon as possible.
We will usually acknowledge receipt within three working days, and aim to resolve the matter as soon as possible, usually within 40 days. We will endeavour to give you some idea of how long that may take at the outset. You will then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than this we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.
When looking into a complaint, we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this, and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved if you wish to do so.
When the investigations are complete, a final written response will be sent to you.
Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. Social Services) we will liaise with that organisation so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. Where your complaint has been initially sent to an incorrect organisation, we will inform you and you will need to send it onto them.
The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to refer the matter further to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (details shown elsewhere in this leaflet) if you remain dissatisfied with the response.
The Practice Manager is the Complaints Manager. However if the complaint is against the Practice Manager please address your complaint to The Partners, Central Surgery.
Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else
We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal
confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written
consent of the patient to confirm that they are
unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it. In the event the patient is deceased, then we may agree to respond to a family member or anyone acting on their behalf or who has had an interest in the welfare of the patient.
Please ask at reception for the Third Party Complaints Form, which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable you to proceed on their behalf. Alternatively, you can download this form from our website at www.centralsurgerysurbiton.co.uk under ‘Practice Policies’
Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness, accident or mental capacity, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide us the precise details of the circumstances that 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 circumstances above apply or you have Power of Attorney for Health. You may also find that if you are complaining on behalf of a child who is capable of making their own complaint, we will expect that child to contact us themselves to lodge their complaint.
It may be that we still need to correspond directly with the patient, or may be able to deal directly with the third party. This depends on the wording of the authority provided in the Third Party consent form.