At Beccles Medical Centre we welcome all feedback. We sincerely hope you find our services satisfactory.
We value and encourage new ideas and suggestions and we use these to review the services we provide. Any member of the Beccles Medical Centre team will do their upmost to help you and attempt to address any issues you may be experiencing. We do not want our patients to worry about sharing their experience or about asking for help.
Our aim is to give you the highest possible standard of service. We try to deal with any suggestions or comments swiftly and you can be assured your care or consultations will not be affected if you feel it necessary to make a complaint.
If you would like to contact us with a comment, suggestion or feedback you can do this in person, on the phone or via our website:
Complaints
Beccles Medical Centre is committed to providing a first class service for all our patients. However, we do understand that occasionally we are unable to meet your expectations and you may wish to have this formally recorded by registering a complaint. In this circumstance we would wish to do everything we can to learn from the incident and make sure the process does not make the matter more difficult for you.
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from Beccles Medical Centre, please let us know.
We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
Making a complaint
Complaints should normally be made within 12 months of an incident or of it coming to your attention.
This time limit can be extended provided you have good reasons for not making the complaint sooner and it’s possible to complete a fair investigation.
This will be a decision taken by the complaints lead in discussion with you.
You can make a complaint verbally (by phone or in person), in writing or by email by contacting the complaints lead, who is our Care Coordination Manager.
If you’re complaining on behalf of someone else, include their written consent with your letter (if you’re making your complaint in writing) as this will speed up the process.
If the person cannot give their consent, for example, if they have died or lack mental capacity, or are a child who cannot complain for themselves, you may be able to complain for them.
What to expect
- You should expect an acknowledgement and the offer of a discussion about the handling of your complaint within 3 working days of the practice receiving your complaint.
- If you accept, the discussion should cover the period within which a response to your complaint is likely to be sent (usually 30 days).
- There’s no set timeframe for responding, and this will depend on the nature of your complaint.
- If, in the end, the response is delayed for any reason, you should be kept informed.
- Once your complaint has been investigated, you’ll receive a response within the time frame specified.
- The response should set out the findings and, where appropriate, provide apologies and information about what’s being done as a result of your complaint.
- It should also include information about how the complaint has been handled and details of your right to take your complaint to the relevant ombudsman.
If you’re not happy with the outcome
If your problem persists or you’re not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with locally, you can complain to the relevant ombudsman.
Complaining to NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB)
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our services.
This does not affect your right to approach the Integrated Care Board (ICB) if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us.
The ICB complaints procedure can be found on their website:
Website: https://improvinglivesnw.org.uk
E-mail: [email protected]
In writing: Complaints Manager, NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DL
Telephone: 01603 595857 (This is an answer machine service. Please leave a message requesting a call back)