Making a complaint.

If you feel that the treatment you've received doesn't meet the standards that we've set out in these pages then you might want to make a complaint. You can get help making a complaint about the NHS from the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (or PALS).

PALS

There is a PALS for every hospital, and also one at your local Primary Care Trust who you can approach about problems with GPs, NHS dentists and other services.

PALS are there to:

• help resolve problems
• explain how to make an official complaint
• give you information about NHS services
• provide confidential advice and support on using the NHS

They should act on your behalf, and make contact with other NHS staff and organisations to try to sort the problem out. They will try to do this informally at first, seeing if a solution can be found through discussion.

However the quality of the PALS service does vary from place to place.

PALS can also tell you how to use the official complaints procedure. The complaints procedure is separate from PALS, and you don’t need to have contacted PALS to use it.

Complaint checklist

Here's some important things to remember about the complaints procedure:

• You need to make the complaint within six months of the problem happening, or within six months of knowing about the problem.
• Write to the head of the organisation where the problem occurred. For example, the chief executive of the hospital, or the doctor in charge of the surgery.
• You should get a reply within 20 days.
• If you’re not happy with the response, your case can be reviewed by the Healthcare Commission.
• Financial compensation is not available.
• If you want help making a complaint, ask PALS, the Citizens Advice Bureau or THT Direct.