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BEDFORD ON CALL: COMPLAINTS POLICY
What is Bedford On Call (Bedoc)?
Bedford On Call provides out of hours medical services to the population of Bedford Primary Care Trust. The service is an integral part of the NHS and links closely with NHS Direct, emergency care and in hours General Practices.
Five important principles
Clinical Safety Bedoc will ensure high quality clinical care
Accessibility to the whole population of Bedford PCT
Effective, Appropriate and Efficient Use of NHS Resources
Staff Working Lives to be valued and treated with respect
Partnership & Integration with other parts of the NHS
Complaints - general principles
The complaints process will comply with new NHS complaints procedure standards and complaints will be dealt with as speedily and efficiently as possible. Complainants will be treated courteously and sympathetically and as far as possible involved in decisions about how their complaints are handled and considered.
The Bedoc Clinical Governance Lead will take responsibility for ensuring we follow these procedures, and that action is taken in the light of the outcome of any investigation.
The Bedoc Chief Executive Officer will act as the complaints manager, to manage the procedures for handling and considering complaints.
Persons who may make complaints
A complaint may be made by a patient, or their representative: if requested by the patient; in the case of a child; or if incapacity prevents the individual complaining.
Making a complaint
A person wishing to complain may make the complaint directly to:
Mrs Maria Laffan
Bedford On Call Complaints Manager
Room 8 Simon Whitbread House
Bedford Hospital
Kempston Road
Bedford. MK42 9DJ
or indirectly to any GP practice who have an out of hour service provided by Bedoc. Practices will be advised to directly inform the complaints manager at Bedoc as soon as they receive the complaint, so that the complaint can be dealt with as quickly as possible.
A complaint may be made orally or in writing, and where it is made orally, the complaints manager will make a written record of the complaint which includes the name of the complainant, the subject matter of the complaint and the date on which it was made; and where it is made in writing, the complaints manager will make a written record of the date on which it was received.
Time limit for making a complaint
A complaint must be made within six months of the date on which the subject of the complaint occurred; or six months of the date on which the subject of the complaint came to the notice of the complainant. Where a complaint is made after 6 months, the complaints manager may investigate it if he is of the opinion that having regard to all the circumstances, the complainant had good reasons for not making the complaint within that period; and it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and efficiently.
Acknowledgement and record of complaint
The complaints manager will send to the complainant a written acknowledgement of the complaint within 2 working days of the date on which the complaint was made. Where a complaint was made orally, the acknowledgement will be accompanied by the written record with an invitation to the complainant to sign and return it.
Investigation
The complaints manager will investigate the complaint to resolve it speedily and efficiently. If the complaint is about the care received by an individual doctor, this doctor will be asked to provide a written statement. If the complaint is about another service, then the complaint will be passed to that service. The complaints manager may, in any case where it is thought appropriate to do so and with the agreement of the complainant, make arrangements for conciliation, mediation or other assistance for the purposes of resolving the complaint, and in any such case Bedoc will ensure that appropriate conciliation or mediation services are available. The complaints manager will take such steps as are reasonably practicable to keep the complainant informed about the progress of the investigation.
Response
The complaints manager will prepare a written response to the complaint which summarises the nature and substance of the complaint, describes the investigation and summarises its conclusions. The response will be signed by the chief executive of Bedoc except in cases where for good reason the chief executive is not able to sign it, in which case it may be signed by a representative.
The response will be sent to the complainant within 20 working days beginning on the date on which the complaint was made or, where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable. Copies of the response will be sent to any other person to whom the complaint was sent.
Who else can help me?
Bedford PCT Patient Advice Liaison Service, 01234 409432
Independent Review
The complainant has the right to refer the complaint to an independent body, in this case the Healthcare Commission, if they are not satisfied with the result of the investigation of the complaint, or if an investigation has not been completed within 6 months of the date of the complaint. The Healthcare Commission can be contacted at:
The Healthcare Commission
Finsbury Tower
103-105 Bunhill Row,
London
EC1Y 8TG
020 7448 9200
Publicity
Bedoc will make this leaflet available to patients and their carers attending Bedoc, staff of Bedoc, Bedford PCT and general practices and Bedford PCT Patient and Public Involvement forum.
Monitoring
Bedoc will prepare a report for each quarter of the year for consideration by its Board, and as part of its reporting arrangements for Bedford PCT. Bedoc will also prepare an annual report on its handling and consideration of complaints and send a copy of that report to Bedford PCT.
FOR COMPLIMENTS, COMMENTS AND COMPLAINTS PLEASE WRITE TO:
Maria Laffan, Bedford On Call, Room 8 Simon Whitbread House, Bedford Hospital, Kempston Road, Bedford. Page: complaints
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