McVerry / McEvoy Medical Centre
Complaints
Listening Acting Improving
We operate a practice complaints procedure for dealing with Health Service Complaints. Our procedure meets agreed criteria set for all of the Health and Personal Social Services.
Our receptionists will give you further details. Alternatively, you can a dress your complaint in writing to Our Practice Manager, Clare Keenan
Our aim is to give you the highest possible standard of service and we try to deal swiftly with any problems that occur.
Help us to help you.
Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint or are concerned about the Health Service treatment you have received from your doctor or nay of the staff employed by this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure to deal with complaints, which meets the criteria agreed for Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services. It does not cover services provided under a private arrangement between the practice and a patient.
How to Complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, let us know as soon as possible — ideally, within a matter of days — as this will help us to find out what happened more easily.
Although you should make your complaint as soon as possible after the event, we can consider complaints made within six months of the date of discovering the problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident. If it is clearly unreasonable in the circumstances to make a complaint earlier, and where it is still possible to investigate the facts of the case, we can consider extending this time limit.
Complaints may approach any member of GP Practice staff with a complaint about the service or treatment he/she has received. It will assist us greatly if you are as specific as possible about your complaint. The practice complaints manager will normally be responsible for investigating and responding to the complaints.
What We Will Do
We aim to acknowledge your complaint, if appropriate, within 3 working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint and responded within 10 working days. Should it not be possible for us to respond fully within 10 working days we will notify you of this and provide an estimated time-scale for the provision of our response. Once the investigation is complete, we should be in a position to offer you an explanation or a meeting to discuss the investigation
In Investigating your complaint, we aim to:
Find out what happened and what went wrong
Enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned (if you would like this)
Ensure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate, and
Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not reoccur.
Complaining to your Health and Social Services Board
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our Practice Complaints Procedure. We believe that this will afford the best opportunity to rectify whatever has gone wrong and improve our practice. This does not affect your right to approach the Health & Social Care Board, if you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us. The Health & Social Care Board’s Complaints Manager can be contacted at the following address:
Health and Social Care Board
12-22 Linenhall Street
Belfast
BT2 8BS
If, on conclusion of the Practice’s investigation you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (‘the Ombudsman’). The Ombudsman’s contact details are as follows:
Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman
Progressive House 33 Wellington Place
Belfast
BT1 6HN
Freephone: 0800 343 424
Email: nipso@nipso.org.uk”
Making a Complaint on behalf of Someone Else
Please note that we adhere strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have his or her permission. A note signed by the person bringing the complaint and witnessed by the patient will be needed. If this is not possible, the next of kin should bring the complaint
Compliments, Concerns, or Comments Feedback
If you have any comments or concerns that you would like to put to us or if you like to let us know that what we are doing meets with your approval, you can address your concern in writing to our Practice Manager Clare Keenan
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