How to make a hospital complaint in Greenwich
Making a formal complaint
Making a complaint can be complicated. There is a free advocacy service in Greenwich called Pohwer and they may able to help you write your complaint. You contact them on 0300 456 4570. On this mainline number, they will take your basic details and build your case & then pass it onto the Greenwich team.
You may also wish to contact the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service. They offer free and confidential help and support to those who have had problems with the NHS. Contact 0300 330 5454 or visit www.nhscomplaintsadvocacy.org.
Making a formal complaint - the process:
Stage one
The first stage is called 'local resolution' and most concerns are resolved at this stage. You can raise your concern by either contacting the manager of the service you wish to make a complaint about or the complaints team of the organisation which manages the service.
If your concern cannot be resolved informally, you will receive a written acknowledgement of your formal complaint within three working days and your issues will be fully investigated under the Trust’s Formal Complaints Process.
For Queen Elizabeth Hospital contact:
Stage two:
If you are still unhappy after you have received the Trust’s response to your complaint, you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review your complaint. The PHSO’s number is 0345 015 4033 or you can get further information and complete an online form on their website, www.ombudsman.org.uk.
Further information on the NHS complaints procedure is available at www.nhs.uk or www.ombudsman.org.uk .
We produce a Monthly Feedback Report which collects feedback from Greenwich residents on health and care services in the borough. This report gets sent directly to key decision makers including senior managers in the NHS and Councillors – making sure your voice is heard. We may include an anonymous case study in next month’s report to highlight the issues you have raised.
You can also complain informally with the Care Quality Commission.
When people tell the CQC about bad care they can:
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send inspectors to visit the service
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talk to the people that run the service
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share what they’ve been told with other agencies
In the most serious cases, for example if someone is at risk of harm or abuse, they tell the police or local council.
