We receive complaints into the team by telephone, e-mail, letter or feedback via the MCH website. They may come from the person directly involved or made on behalf of someone else. In the latter instance we require consent from the person that they are happy for you to deal with the complaint. We can either speak to that person directly to ask or we will send out a letter to them to sign and return to us before we can proceed.
We are always very sorry if our services do not meet your expectations, but hearing your feedback, even when it is negative, is very important to us. We use this to learn lessons, improve and develop so we are always able to give you the highest standard of care.
All complaints are acknowledged within 3 days and if you have corresponded with us in writing we may contact you initially to find out more information about the concerns you have raised. This information will then be passed on to the relevant Head of Service for investigation and a response.
Timeframes to respond to your complaint can vary depending on the complexity of the investigation required and the number of services involved, however, we aim to respond to all written complaints within 30 working days. If we feel that this is going to take longer we will contact you to let you know there will be a delay, but you can contact us at any point if you have any further questions or concerns that you would like raised.
Some complaints can be resolved in a much shorter timeframe and for these we will ask the Head of Service to give you a telephone call within 5 working days so you can discuss your concerns directly with them. We also offer patient resolution meetings for people who prefer to have direct face to face engagement to hold their discussions, although this can also be done virtually using software packages such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
When you receive your response, if you feel we have not answered your concerns satisfactorily we would always encourage you to come back to us initially to see if there is anything more we can do to help you. If you would rather not do this you have a right to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman:
Address: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
Monday – Friday 8.30am - 5.30pm
Website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/.