Make a complaint

Every patient has the right to make a complaint about the treatment or care they have received at Cober Valley Health. We understand that we may not always get everything right and, by telling us about the problem you have encountered, we will be able to improve our services and patient experience

Before you make your complaint, you can get free, confidential advice from your local Healthwatch team.
If you’re a registered patient you can make a complaint about your own care.

You can complain on behalf of someone else if you have their written consent.
The time constraint on bringing a complaint is 12 months from the occurrence giving rise to the complaint, or 12 months from the time you become aware of the matter about which you wish to complain. We will aim to investigate and provide you with the findings as soon as we can and will provide regular updates regarding the investigation of your complaint.

You can either:

If you write your own letter, you need to include:

  • your full name
  • your date of birth
  • details of the incident, including dates, times and names of people involved, if you know them
  • If you choose to write to the practice, please mark the letter for the attention of the practice manager.

Send your complaint to the surgery. For the practice manager’s attention.

See our contact details

We aim to investigate and provide a detailed response as quickly as possible. Some complaints may take longer than others, so we do not want to offer any specific timescale. However, throughout the investigation, this organisation will keep you up to date with the progress of the complaint.

If more than one organisation is involved

Other organisations might be involved, for example social services. If so, we’ll talk to them and you’ll receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this.

If your complaint gets sent to the wrong organisation to begin with, we may ask for your consent to forward it to the right place.

We will issue a final formal response to all complainants which will provide full details and the outcome of the complaint.

If you’re unhappy with the outcome

If you’re unhappy with the outcome, you can contact the Health Service Ombudsman. They may be able to look further into your complaint.

Get advice if you’re unhappy with the outcome

Contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) to get free, confidential advice.

Details below.

If for any reason you do not want to speak to a member of our staff, you can contact PALS:

The patient advice and liaison service (PALS) is a free and confidential service.

The PALS team act independently of clinical teams when handling patient and family concerns and complaints. The team will speak to staff, managers, and other organisations, when required to negotiate immediate and prompt solutions.

Call: 01208 834 620

or email: cpn-tr.palscft@nhs.net

To complain for someone else, you need their written consent. They need to confirm that they:

  • are unhappy with their treatment
  • allow the practice to deal with someone else about the issue

We cannot discuss the issue with you until the patient gives their written consent.

We may also still need to talk directly with the patient.

How to complain on behalf of someone else

Ask at the practice reception for the complaints form. The patient needs to sign this to give their consent.

If the patient cannot give consent

If the patient cannot give consent because of illness or an accident, it might still be possible to deal with the complaint for them. Please write a letter which gives precise details of why they cannot give consent.

Confidentiality

This process is in place because we keep to strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality.