Complaints Procedure

This surgery will endeavour to give you the best service possible at all times, but there may be occasions when you feel you wish to express dissatisfaction. The purpose of this procedure is to explain what to do if you have a complaint about the services this practice provides you.

We have an in-house procedure to deal with your concerns. This procedure does not deal with matters of legal liability or compensation, but we hope you will use it to give us the opportunity of looking into and if necessary correcting any problems that may have arisen or mistakes that may have been made.

Using this procedure does not affect your right to make a formal complaint to the Health Authority if you so wish, and the appropriate contact addresses are mentioned later in the procedure.

If the complaint is for a third party
If you wish to make a complaint on behalf of someone else, please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients, and a patient's written consent will be necessary if a complaint is not to be made by that patient directly.

What do you do next
If you wish to make a complaint please contact our Practice Manager, either directly by telephone, or by letter if you prefer. He/she will take full details of your complaint, explain fully how the procedure works, and decide how best to undertake the investigation into your concern.

You will then be offered a meeting with a senior member of staff, normally with 7 working days, to discuss the matter fully. You may bring a friend or relative with you to the meeting if you wish.

We hope to address your concerns fully, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be taken.

We trust that at the end of the informal meeting you will feel satisfied the matter has been resolved. However, if this is not possible, we can then suggest avenues of further action with the appropriate authorities.

Thank you for letting us help you.

Useful Contacts

South West Peninsular Health Authority
The Lescaze Offices
Shinners Bridge
Dartington
Totnes
Devon
TQ9 6JE

Tel: 01803 866665
Fax: 01803 867679

Torbay Primary Care Trust
Rainbow House
Avenue Road
Torquay
Devon
TQ2 5LS

Tel: 01803 210910
Fax: 01803 292975
Web: www.torbay-pct.nhs.uk

Patient Advice and Liason Service
Hengrave House
Torbay Hospital
Lawes Bridge
Torqya
TQ2 7AA

Tel: 01803 655838
Fax: 01803 617162