Suggestions and Complaints

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Concerns & Complaints

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from a doctor or any member of staff working at The SMA Medical Centre please let us know.  We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system, which meets the national criteria.

If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, please note that we adhere to strict rules of medical confidentiality and will not be able to act on this complaint without the patient’s permission on a signed and dated consent letter.

If the complaint is regarding a deceased patient, the practice will proceed with an investigation.

Ideally you need to make your complaint as soon as possible, but ideally within six months of the incident that caused the problem or within six months of discovering that you have a problem. This will enable us to gather all the information whilst still fresh.

There are comments, suggestions and compliments boxes located in our waiting rooms and we invite you to give us feedback on areas where you feel we are performing well or maybe not so well.

The Procedure

We aim to sort out most problems easily and quickly and often at the time that they arise.  If your problem cannot be sorted immediately and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know in writing as soon as possible.

All complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager here at the Practice, who will ensure that your complaint is dealt with promptly.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receipt.  We aim to provide a full response in a timely manner, but consider candour and accuracy as the priority, so the time frame will be determined by the complexity of the concerns raised and access to those involved. It is our intention then to be in a position to offer you a response or a meeting with the people involved or, if there is to be a delay in responding ( for instance, due to staff absences or a third party not directly employed by the Hurley), to keep you updated of the progress of your complaint.

When we look into your complaint we will aim to:

• Investigate the problem with all members of staff concerned
• Notify you of the outcome of the investigation with a satisfactory explanation
• Identify the problem with a view to improving the service we offer to our patients

We hope that you will use the Hurley Groups Complaints Procedure so that we are able to resolve the problem and have the opportunity to improve our service to you, but if you choose not to contact us you can approach NHS England direct at england.contactus@nhs.net or on 0113 539 7030

If neither body helps resolve the issue, you have the right to approach the Ombudsman on 0345 015 4033 and at phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk

The Care Quality Commission is always interested in both issues and outcomes. Details can be forwarded to enquiries@cqc.org.uk though please be aware they are not involved in the resolution process.

Practice Manager

Nick Christou

In Writing To: SMA, 693 High Street, Leyton, London E10 6RA

Contact No: 020 8539 2078