If you feel that the quality of the service or care that you have received in the NHS has been substandard in some way, you may be considering what to do about it and how and why you might want to make a complaint.

What is the NHS Service?

Every hospital, GP, Dentist or Optician providing care within the NHS falls within the NHS service umbrella and if you or a member of your family have any concerns about your treatment then you should consider a complaint.

How to make a NHS Complaint

Every NHS organisation will have a complaints procedure, and you should ask for copy of that which will explain what you have to do. There are two stages to the NHS complaints procedure:

1. Local Resolution, and
2. Health Ombudsman.

Local Resolution

The first is a local resolution. You will be required to raise the matter with the hospital or GP or Dentist involved either orally or in writing. If your complaint is about a hospital and the care given then there should be a response within 25 days of the complaint. If it is about a GP, the time period is 10 days. The hospital general manager or the practice managers of a GP practice are the ones who should be responding to complaints. There is however no penalty if they do not respond within the time limits. They can be extended in any event by agreement.

Are there any time limits for making a complaint?

The complaint should be made within:

• 12 months from the date the event happened, or
• 12 months from the date you first became aware of it.

What happens if I am not satisfied with the response to my complaint?

If you are dissatisfied with the local response then you can make a complaint to the Independent Review Panel. This needs to be done within 28 days of the local response. There is no instant right to an independent review and the convenor of the Independent Review Panel may simply refer it back to local resolution and advise you of your rights to appeal to the Health Ombudsman.

If there is an independent review panel set up in response to your appeal, then it will investigate the complaint and seek advice from independent clinical assessors where appropriate. The panel itself is made up of the convenor, an independent lay chairperson and another independent representative from the health authority. They will prepare a report and make appropriate suggestions; they do not have the power to make orders. Once the review has taken place, the chairman of the local health authority must advise of any changes that are proposed as a result of the findings.

The Health Ombudsman

The Health Ombudsman can consider the matter if there is no independent review or on appeal from that body. They are completely independent and can either insist that there is an independent review, refer the matter back to local resolution or investigate the matter themselves. They should be contacted within 12 months of the original complaint.

I am thinking of making a claim for medical negligence, should I complain first?

Generally, if you make your intention to claim clear when you make your complaint that will bring an end to the complaints procedure.

If however you are seeking legal funding from the legal services commission, you will usually be required to go through the complaints procedure first before qualifying for public funding.

Generally speaking however ‘legal aid’ as it used to be known is not always available for these claims and in some circumstances the legal services commission will not require you to make the complaint first and those include:

• if your claim is of a potential size such as a serious brain injury or
• if you have a terminal illness
• if you are outside the time limits for making a complaint (usually 12 months)

You can also raise your concerns through other regulatory bodies like the Care Quality Commission.

Similar Pages

Negligence Compensation Claims against hospitals and the NHS

Complain or Claim?

Making a medical negligence complaint