We endeavour to give you the best service possible at all times, but there may be occasions when you feel you wish to express dissatisfaction. This policy is to explain what to do if you have a complaint about the service the practice provides for you.

We offer an in-house procedure to deal with your concerns. This procedure does not deal with matters of legal liability or compensation, but we hope you will use it to give us an opportunity of looking into, and if necessary correcting, any problems that may have arisen or mistakes that have been made.

Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients, and a patient’s consent will be necessary if a complaint is not made by that patient directly.

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact our practice manager, Anne Scott, either directly by telephone or by letter. This will usually be acknowledged within 7 working days. Full details of your complaint will be taken. Further to this, decisions on how best to undertake the investigation will be made and you will be notified within 14 working days in usual circumstances. All complaints are taken seriously, logged and reviewed annually to ensure any recurrence is minimised. You may be offered a meeting with a senior member of staff, normally within 14 working days, to discuss the matter. This delay is to enable us to investigate the matter fully. You may bring a friend or relative with you to the meeting if you wish; if an interpreter is required this may take a little longer to arrange.

We hope to address your concerns fully, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be taken. We trust that you will feel satisfied that the matter has been resolved. However, if this is not possible, we can suggest avenues of further action with appropriate authorities. You also have the right to complain to the Health Service Ombudsman if you consider that we have mishandled the investigation of your complaint. See below for contacting the appropriate organisations.

In the first instance contact:

Practice Manager: Anne Scott
Email: admin.unimed@nhs.net
Tel: 01273 249049
Address: University of Sussex Health Centre, Refectory Road, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9RW

If you are dissatisfied please contact:

Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Telephone: 0300 3112233
Address: NHS England, PO BOX 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

The Health Service Ombudsman in England contains detailed information on raising a complaint about any aspect of the NHS England.