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Compliments and concerns

Photo: Matrons Mitch Haines and Tristram Mills

We are committed to improving our services by listening to patients, visitors and staff. We want to hear from you if we have done particularly well or if we have not met the standard you expect from us.

Compliments

Many patients want to write to thank staff personally or to praise the service that they have received. If you would like to do so, you can write to the ward or department directly, or to the Membership and Patient Advice & Liaison Service (M-PALS) at the following address:

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
London
SW10 9NH

Alternatively:

Comments, concerns and complaints

The best and quickest way of getting something sorted out is to raise it at the time, or as soon as possible, with a member of the ward/department staff. If you are not satisfied, please ask the staff member to contact one of the following:

  • Modern Matron
  • Clinical Site Manager (out of hours, at weekends & bank holidays)
  • M-PALS

They will do their best to resolve the matter and agree a way forward.

The M-PALS team will help patients and their families with any questions they may have about care being received. They provide a rapid response, on the spot service, which you can access in person at the M-PALS office, by telephone or email. They will also help you find out more information about health related issues. The M-PALS team can be contacted on 020 3315 6727.

Membership and Patient Advice & Liaison Service
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
London
SW10 9NH

E: m-pals@chelwest.nhs.uk

Making a complaint in writing

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive through these first steps, you can make a formal complaint to the Trust in writing. Your letter should be addressed to:

Heather Lawrence, Chief Executive
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
London
SW10 9NH

E: complaints.team@chelwest.nhs.uk

Alternatively, you can arrange to speak to one of the M-PALS team or the Complaints team who will help you prepare a written complaint statement. The Complaints Team can be contacted on 020 3315 8817.

A complaint may be made by a patient, or by someone acting on behalf of the patient or person with their consent. It is important to remember that when someone is making a complaint on behalf of a patient, the Trust cannot include clinical information in a response without the patient's consent.

Normally complaints should be made within 12 months of the event concerned, or within 12 months of the complainant becoming aware of the matter which is the subject of the complaint. When we receive a complaint, we will acknowledge this within 3 working days. A senior manager will then investigate your complaint and they may contact you to discuss your concerns further and agree with you how we will look into, and resolve, the problems you have raised with us. This could be via a letter, verbal explanation or a meeting, if you prefer. Our aim is to work with you until you are satisfied that we have answered your complaint fully and honestly.

Before you make a complaint, it is important to think about what you want to happen as a result of your complaint and to make this clear at the beginning.

For example, you may want:

  • An apology
  • Someone to explain what has happened
  • Some changes or improvements to be made
  • To make sure people recognise their mistakes
  • To make sure the same thing does not happen again

If you make a complaint, hospital staff involved in the investigation may need to access your health records—if you don't wish this to happen, you must make this clear in your complaint letter.

Your complaint will only be shared with those staff who need to be involved in the investigation and correspondence relating to your complaint will not be filed in your medical records.

We will always do our best to give you a full reply as quickly as possible. You should receive a written response from the Trust within 25 working days (unless you have agreed to extend this time limit). However, it may take us longer to investigate your complaint fully. If for any reason we cannot respond to you in full within 25 working days, we will keep you fully informed.

We believe that patients have a right to make a complaint about aspects of their care and our systems are designed to provide reassurance that doing so this will not affect their care or treatment. However, if you feel that making a complaint has impacted on your care, please contact the Complaints team directly so that we are aware of any problems.

We take all complaints seriously. Accepting and resolving complaints gives us the opportunity to improve the services we provide. Your complaint may help prevent the same issue occurring to someone else in the future.

Patient leaflet

Further action

If you make a complaint we hope that you will be satisfied with the outcome of our investigation and that we have taken appropriate action. If you still feel we haven't addressed all your concerns, we can continue to resolve your concerns locally—either through further written correspondence or a face-to face meeting with the relevant senior manager and/or health professional.

If you then remain dissatisfied with the response you have received from the hospital, you may wish to request a review of your complaint by the Health Service Ombudsman—further details can be obtained at www.ombudsman.org.uk.

The Ombudsman can be contacted on 0345 015 4033 or email phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk.

You can write to:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank London
SWIP 4QP

Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)

ICAS can help if you feel you have not had the service you expect from the National Health Service (NHS) and want to complain but you are unsure about how to do so, or need someone to you support you through the process. ICAS is free, independent and confidential. ICAS can be contacted on:

T: 0845 337 3063
W: www.pohwer.net