We aim to provide and commission high quality health care services for the residents of Devon. Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the care provided is of a high quality, we accept that sometimes things do go wrong and that the services commissioned may not meet the specific needs of individuals. Where this is the case, NHS Devon is committed to listening to our patients, families, carers, advocates and other organisations and to make changes wherever possible to ensure that service improvements are made, and that the patient experience is enhanced.

NHS Devon will treat you as an individual and seek to understand your issues and concerns. We will ensure that you are provided with the relevant information to enable you to make an informed choice about how your concerns will be progressed and what you can realistically expect as an outcome. We will take what you have to say seriously, be honest about our point of view and be clear about what we can and cannot do.

If you have received good service, we are always pleased to hear positive feedback. You can either contact the service directly or forward your commendations or compliments to the complaints team for NHS Devon commissioned services, who will ensure the relevant service is informed. Commendations and compliments are logged on a central system and reported alongside complaints, so that good practise is shared across the Trust. If you have any comments or suggestions that you feel may be beneficial about how we could improve the services provided, we will welcome this information and ensure that when we review services, your comments and suggestions are included within these discussions.

You are able to raise any issues anonymously, if you wish.

When things do go wrong or you feel you that you have experienced poor service, you are able to raise your concerns direct with the service provider, whether that is a hospital, general practice, community pharmacy, dental practice or optician. Where possible and if you feel able to, we would encourage you to speak to someone at the time or as soon as you become aware that there may be a problem. Services will welcome the opportunity to try and resolve your concerns directly and learn from your experience.

Should you feel unable to approach staff members to raise your concerns where you received the care, or if you remain unhappy after receiving a response, you are able to contact the commissioning complaints team, who will be able to discuss your concerns with you and advise you on the options available to you to progress your complaint.

It may be that your concerns can be quickly and easily resolved, and we will aim to do so whenever we can. In some cases, it will be necessary for a formal investigation to take place in order to look at what happened and where things went wrong. We may also need access to your medical records to ensure that the care provided was appropriate, but we will not access records without your written consent, and this will be fully explained to you should we need to do so.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Have any complaint you make about NHS services dealt with efficiently and to have it properly investigated.
• Know the outcome of any investigation into your complaint.
• Take your complaint to the independent Health Service Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the NHS.
• Make a claim for judicial review if you think you have been directly affected by an unlawful act or decision of an NHS body.
• Compensation where you have been harmed by negligent treatment.

The NHS also commits (pledges):

• To ensure you are treated with courtesy and that you receive appropriate support throughout the handling of a complaint. The fact that you have complained will not adversely affect your future treatment.
• When mistakes happen, to acknowledge them, apologise, explain what went wrong and put things right quickly and effectively.
• To ensure that the organisation learns lessons from complaints and claims and uses these to improve NHS services.

Our commitment to you

• If a patient, or their relative or representative, has cause to complain about the services commissioned by NHS Devon, the emphasis will be on seeking to resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant.
• You will be given a named case manager as a point of contact to discuss your complaint
• You will be involved in decisions about how your complaint will be handled. This will include agreeing a realistic outcome for your complaint, agreeing the points for investigation and a timescale for a response to be provided.

If a mistake or error has been made, this will be acknowledged and the complainant provided with an apology, an explanation about what went wrong and given information about the measures put in place to ensure as far as possible that there is not a recurrence of a similar event. Where necessary NHS Devon will ensure support is provided to the patient or complainant to cope with the physical and psychological consequences.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Complaints and Client Services Team for NHS Devon (Commissioning Services)
(Office hours: 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday)

Complaints and Client Services Team
NHS Devon
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter EX2 4QL  

Tel: 01392 207 819
Fax: 01392 207 372
Email: complaints.devonpct@nhs.net

Alternatively you can download and fill in a Complaint Form (see links below under "Further information")

For more information, please pick up one of our Complaints, Concerns and Compliments leaflets.(see links below under "Further information")

What can you expect of us?

In accordance with the new NHS Complaint Regulations which came into force on 1 April 2009 following the Department of Health’s guidance document Making Experiences Count, you can expect us to:

• Acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days of receiving it
• Offer to discuss your concerns and resolve them straight away, if possible
• Manage your expectations by agreeing with you the issues of your complaint and how you would like them resolved
• Respond to you in a manner agreed with you in a timeframe agreed with you
• Keep you informed if we require further information or an extension to the agreed timeframe
• Offer you independent help with making your complaint
• Be open and accountable
• Be fair and proportionate in investigating your concerns
• Apologise if we have made a mistake
• Try our best to put things right
• Learn from mistakes and feedback and change practise where necessary
• Keep you informed of further changes or improvements made as a result of your complaint if you so wish

Click this link to view or download the Commissioning Patient Advice and Complaints Policy (2011) which is available on the Corporate Policies page.

What if I am still dissatisfied?

If you are still unhappy with our response following our investigation into the concerns you have raised, we would welcome the opportunity to respond further.

If you remain dissatisfied with how your complaint has been handled, you are entitled to forward your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for review. The Ombudsman will only review those complaints that have completed local resolution through the practice or NHS Devon.

www.ombudsman.org.uk

Helpline: 0345 015 4033 (open 8.30am-5.30pm – Monday to Friday)
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Fax: 0300 061 4000
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Complaints annual reports

Click the link below to view or download this document:

• Complaints annual report 2010 - 2011
• Complaints annual report 2009 - 2010
  
  

Help and Support

PALS - If you wish to raise your concern informally and confidentially, or require a quick and practical outcome, please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service. PALS offers a confidential service for NHS service users and can provide information and support to patients, their families and carers.

PALS can be contacted on 0845 111 0080 or email pals.devonpct@nhs.net

ICAS - The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service provides free help and support for people bringing formal complaints to the NHS. This is an independent and confidential service available in this area through South of England Advocacy Projects (SEAP).

ICAS can be contacted on 0845 120 3782.
(open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, Thursdays open 9am-7pm)

For more information on NHS Devon - complaints process please click on the links below: (any missing links are to be posted soon)

• "Complaints, Concerns and Compliments" leaflet

This leaflet is also available in the following languages - click on the links to download each one:

• Arabic
• Bengali
• Chinese (simplified)
• Chinese (traditional)
• Dari
• Farsi
• French
• German
• Lithuanian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Slovak
• Spanish
• Turkish

• How to make a complaint poster
• Comment Cards leaflet
• Complaint Form
• DPS Complaints Policy (under review)
• Joint Complaints Management Process (under review)

For more information on the background and rationale behind the new NHS complaints process please refer to the information below:

• NHS Complaints Regulations (England) April 2009
• The Department of Health’s guidance: Listening Responding Improving
• The Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Complaint Handling

If you need this information in a different format, such as Braille or audio, please contact us on 01392 207819 or email complaints.devonpct@nhs.net