Myself and my partner have had referrals made to our local hospital numerous times over the last few months. These referrals have had to be sent 3/4 times for each of us, because the hospital have not acknowledge receiving them. The referrals for both of us have been marked as urgent every time, yet months later we're still waiting for an appointment to see a specialist. When I mention this to hospital staff they say to "make a complaint through PALS online". Yet when I search for how and where to make my complaint, all I can find is how the complaints procedure should work, but not where to go to make my complaint.
Does anybody here know where I go to make a formal complaint about the lack of satisfactory service from my local nhs hospital?
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Sotanis87
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Pals is an NHS decoy body. Meant to sugar coat mistakes and give an ear to the distressed. But still they do exist and do have contact details available online. I'm surprised you can not find them. The entire reason behind GP's sending letters and not e-mails is to be able to lie about not receiving them. The general public never losses a letter yet hospitals never seem to recieve them.
In any case you do not have to make a complaint through Pals. This is how you complain. Please follow these steps to make sure no one is able to lie about receiving correspondence.
Send an E-mail, not a letter, to the Cheif Executives office of the Hospital. If you let me know the hospital I will give you the details.
In this e-mail clearly state.
1. Request to forward the your complaint to the relevant department.
2. State you complaint with all details. Do not expect them to ask for further information. Always remember their motive is to deceive you, and yours is to receive care that you have paid through years of taxes. The more information the better the response.
3. Ask for an acknowledgement clearly.
4. From the next day send an e-mail and call (both) to be sent an acknowledgement.
5. All complaints must be acknowledged with in three days. If you get nothing back. Send another e-mail to the Cheif Executives office informing them that you are now going to approach the CQC and the CCG. If you do not have these details let me know. And do it. Send the CQC and CCG and E-MAIL with your initial complaint attached.
I can go on with the entire process depending on the response you get. But for now see where you get with this. And if still stuck come back here and we will discuss further.
Get in touch with your GP and ask for copies of letters sent to the hospital. They can not refuse to give them to you.
If any discussion with any one in the NHS is verbal it needs to be recorded. They have a bad habit of not being able to recall conversations and can not be bothered to make notes of anything.
It will take you to the page with all the details for contacting the chef Executive's office. It is usually the Chief Executives office who will receive the e-mail. Not him Directly. This is the e-mail I found on the hospitals website. complaints@hey.nhs.uk. There is also a link to a form that you can fill online to raise your concerns.
Thanks for the info, I have already seen this and was hoping you had a direct email address for the CEO . I'll use your link anyway when I have formulated my complaint.
I am sooo not shocked that someone wants to make a complaint about Hull hospital. We moved to Surrey to get as far away from that hospital as possible. The amount of neglect, and even life threatening neglect that they have imposed on my immediate family in the last few years is something you’d only expect in a horror film.
Hi Sotanis87
I completely understand and empathise about the shocking state of the NHS, including its failing appointments system. I have been a victim myself. But resistance is futile! Sure you can go through the complaints procedure, as I have, and you'll achieve little to nothing. You'll still be waiting a year hence.
Instead just take it back to your GP, exaggerating your symptoms and ask him/her (or probably the next locum on the day), to try on your behalf, one more time. And ask if there are any alternate routes to access, like a different centre or clinic. Also look at the stated time-frame on your referral letter to see in how many weeks you have the right, under the NHS constitution, to be seen before it is in breach of contract. Mention this to your GP too.
Complaining to an organization as big and inefficient as our NHS is, is a waste of precious time and energy. I'm not criticizing the staff at the coal face, (i.e. the nurses and doctors who work so hard and have no idea that the appointment system is failing). It's the administration that are continually failing us all.
Pals is there for patients and to help with all issues. IKAN has an issue with the nhs and blames them for everything, guessing he was fired from his job within the nhs so is on a one man crusade to belittle the nhs. As an employee I too have had appointments cancelled and yes it is annoying and frustrating but they are cancelled for a reason. Blame lies with the government past and present
Lets avoid personal remarks. I have never worked for the NHS.
My Son passed away from a non-fatal illness. I have received multiple apologies from the NHS for the following.
1. Lack of Care
2. Medical Negligence
3. Below standard initial investigation
4. Below standard 2nd investigation (Finally an independent review was carried out)
5. possible deception.
6. Breach of Regulation 20 Statutory duty of Candour.
And guess what after all these apologies From Hospital Directors and J Hunt himself. No one was held responsible. Not even those who attempted to cover it up.
This journey has formed my views. And I have not had these encounters with 1 or 2 people working for the NHS. It involved over a hundred people. Now you can go ahead and say it was the government funding behind my Son dying. But the botched up investigation, the breach in regulations, the lapses in investigations were NHS staff.
We are old enough to understand there are no good or bad people. People do good or bad things depending on circumstances.
Now put on your uniform and go to work. The people need dedicated NHS workers like you. And dont forget to smile.
Hi IKAN firstly let me say how sorry I am about your loss, no parent should have to go through losing a child, also I never meant to cause any upset or distress to you regarding my comments.
I can totally understand your feelings towards those who were involved in this tragic loss of your son but please remember we are not all the same and we do have a duty of care which should be given 100% 24/7.
Once again please accept my apologies and I am truly sorry about your loss
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. I'll use your link anyway when I have formulated my complaint.
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