Equality, Respect, Behaviour & Complaints Policies

Equality and Respect Policy

We are committed to treating all our patients in a courteous, consistent and professional manner. We aim to have a mutually fair and respectful relationship with our patients and to provide equality of service to all patients in an environment which is free from discrimination or harassment.

Behaviour Policy

We operate a no tolerance policy regarding abusive or aggressive behaviour towards any member of our staff.  We aim to provide a comprehensive and professional service in an efficient and pleasant manner to all our patients

We strive to provide a helpful and friendly environment. We ask that our patients co-operate with all our policies and treat our staff in a courteous manner.

Dignity and respect are of paramount importance at our practice and accordingly, any patient or visitor who is abusive or aggressive in a verbal or physical manner, will be asked to leave the premises immediately and will be removed from the patient list if our policies are not followed.

We consider aggressive behaviour to include any personal abusive or threatening comments, bad language, in appropriate or aggressive gestures, raised voices, theft or damage to property.

Complaints Policy

We know that sometimes we can make mistakes or fail to meet expectations. There will be times when patients/families and carers will express dissatisfaction with the service/care provided at our practice.

It is our practice policy to do our best to resolve complaints as early as possible in the process and to ensure that each member of staff has a duty to listen to our patients concerns.

All complaints whether verbal or written should be taken seriously and handled appropriately, sensitively and confidentially by our doctors, nurses and administrative staff.

We commit to safeguarding the rights and dignity of our patients and members of staff in the implementation of this policy. Learning from comments, suggestions and complaints helps us to continuously improve our service and that is the spirit in which we receive feedback.

We want to continuously improve the quality of our patients’ experience of their care and treatment at all times and will implement changes in response to shortcomings where at all possible and in a timely manner.

If you are disappointed with any aspects of our service, please see the below procedure. All complaints will be dealt with in a strictly confidential manner.

Complaints Procedure

If possible, we believe it is best to deal with things as soon as possible and in the easiest and most direct way. 

If you have a problem, please speak to a member of our reception team as they are here to try and assist you and they are only too happy to help you where possible. If you have further concerns or wish to speak to the Practice Manager or Practice Partner please ask a member of staff to contact them. If the member of staff can’t help, they will explain why and you can then submit your complaint formally for further investigation.

Formal Procedure

1. 1. Download and complete this Complaint Form and send it in to the Practice Manager or Practice Partner.
   2. Third Party complaints need to complete a complaint form and can only be dealt with where the patient signs a form allowing the third party to have access to their medical records and act on their behalf. A copy of the consent form is included with this document.
      

How to complain

We hope that we can sort most problems out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish/ see what happened more easily. If doing that is not possible your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem. You should address your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager. They will make sure that we deal with your concerns promptly and in the correct way. You should be as specific and concise as possible.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality if you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so. An authority signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this and a clinician or legal team can confirm this. A Third-Party Consent Form can be provided.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days (dependent of the practice manager being in-house) and aim to have fully investigated within 21 working days of the date it was received (clinical investigations may take longer). If we expect it to take longer we will explain the reason for the delay. When we look into your complaint, we will investigate the circumstances; make it possible for you to discuss the issue and agree a plan of how it will be handled and agree timescales. You will receive a written apology if this is appropriate, and we will then take steps in-house in the hope that we may try to ensure/prevent this from happening again in the future.