Concerns, Complaints and Compliments St Andrew s always welcomes feedback to help us improve our services. If you have any concerns about the service we are providing please initially discuss them with staff, to resolve them as quickly as possible. Staff will also be happy to discuss with you any compliments, suggestions or other feedback you have about our services. If you do not feel you can speak to staff, or you are not happy with the response you get, you can contact the Complaints Department directly. You can contact the Complaints Department by telephone or in writing. You can also make a comment, complaint or compliment by completing the form within this leaflet. Please hand your completed form to staff or send it to the Complaints Department. Complaints Department Patient Experience Team St Andrew s Cliftonville Road Northampton NN1 5BU complaints@standrew.co.uk Tel: 01604 616829 Please contact us if you need this information in large print or another format
Who can complain? Anyone receiving a service from us or who is affected by our service can make a complaint. A patient can make a complaint about their care. Someone acting on a patient s behalf can make a complaint, but we may need the patient s consent to share information. Do you need help with a complaint? There are lots of organisations ready to help people who have concerns about care. They can provide free information and advice about how to make a complaint. They can also advise how to take a complaint further. If you need help making a complaint you can ask staff to help you. If you prefer you can contact VoiceAbility. This is the advocacy service who work independently of St Andrew s. If you feel that you would like to speak to an advocate, please contact VoiceAbility on 01604 616552, or ask a member of staff to refer you. Other organisations who can help you are listed below, with contact telephone numbers. Please speak to staff or an advocate if you need more information or addresses to write to. Care Quality Commission (03000 61 61 61) Healthwatch (03000 683 000) Patients Association (0845 608 4455) Local Resolution When you make a complaint staff will try to resolve this for you as quickly as possible. It is important that staff are given the opportunity to resolve complaints in this way so things can be sorted out quickly. If the complaint cannot be resolved this way, details will be referred to the Complaints Manager.
Write a Record it on a letter feedback form Phone the Ask your Speak to complaints line advocate to staff on 01604 help you 616829 - Do we fully understand your complaint? - What would you like to happen? - When will we respond? - How will we keep you informed? Formal Complaints Process what can you expect? You make a complaint about our service. If an outcome is agreed, We will first try to resolve the details are sent to the the complaint at ward level Complaints Department. (local resolution). The Complaints Department will send you a letter. If not resolved, the complaint is sent to the Complaints Department to start the formal process. Letter sent to you within 3 days saying that the complaint has been received. The person dealing with complaint will contact you. Meeting to be held within one week. Complaint investigated. The investigator will keep you informed about progress. Report sent to managers of the service and Complaints Department. The investigator will tell you the outcome. The Complaints Department will send you a letter. Complaints will be acknowledged by letter within 3 working days. An investigator will meet with you within 1 week. The complaint will be investigated. You will be informed of the outcome. You will receive a response in writing. If you are not happy with how we dealt with your complaint, a panel will review it. The Complaints Department will write back to tell you the outcome. We will explain how to take it further with an Ombudsman if you are still not happy. Privacy To investigate properly we will need to share details about your complaint with staff. We will only share the information necessary to resolve the complaint. It may also be necessary for us to share some information with external agencies (like the Care Quality Commission, an Ombudsman, or with commissioners). We will also use information to write reports so that we can monitor complaints. Your name and personal details will not be included in these reports. What if I still have concerns? If you are not happy with the response, please contact the Complaints Department to explain why you are not happy. If you have new information or think we ve missed something, we may need to look at your complaint again. If you continue to remain unhappy after the internal complaints process has been completed, you may be able to take your complaint further. Patients who are funded by a Health Service (NHS) or a Local Authority (Social Services) have the right to contact an Ombudsman to help. If care is self-funded (paid for privately) you may also be able to seek help from an Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can check how the complaint was handled. They look at whether it was dealt with fairly.
How do I contact the Ombudsman?
Care Quality Commission (CQC) If your complaint is about care under the Mental Health Act, the Care Quality Commission may be able to help. The CQC can review complaints about how staff have used their powers under the Act. You can also share with the CQC your experience of a service. Whether you have had a good experience or a bad experience, the CQC will listen to your feedback. They use these comments to help them assess how well a care provider is doing. CQC Mental Health Act Citygate Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA Tel: 03000 616161 - press 1 to speak to the mental health team Our commitment to you Whatever you think about our services we want to hear from you. We will use the information you give us to develop and improve our services. You can be assured that by raising a concern the service you receive from us will not be negatively affected. If you do contact us with feedback about our service: We promise to listen carefully to any feedback you have and take it seriously All comments, compliments and complaints are treated sensitively. We will respond to you as soon as we can. We will provide you with an explanation. We will do all we can to address the issues you raise.
The complaints process overview
St Andrew s Feedback Form Please tick whether you would like to Give a Compliment Make a Comment Make a Complaint Please give your details Your name: Are you contacting us about: your care someone else s care (their name:) Unit: Date: Time: Please write the details of your compliment, comment or complaint below:
Send the completed form to: The Complaints Department St Andrew s, Cliftonville Road, Northampton, NN1 5BU