We want to ensure that you have a premium experience when you come to see us. Your wellbeing is our reason for being! We want you to leave our surgery knowing that we care and feeling like you have been listened to. We pride ourselves on offering what matters to our patients: relationship-based care (seeing the same doctor where possible) and unhurried appointments (30 minutes as standard).
If you have had a positive experience with us, please let us know – we love to know what we have done right, so we can keep doing it! Please email us on clinical@formbygp.net or let us know by phone or at your next appointment with us. Do please leave a public review if you feel comfortable to.
If something hasn’t gone as you had hoped, you may wish to let us know informally, by talking to us about how you feel. We always appreciate feedback: it helps us improve!
We sincerely hope that you will be pleased with your experience with us and will never want to complain. However, if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of your care, we would be grateful if you would raise this with us – firstly so we can make things right for you, and secondly so we can improve in future.
If you do feel you need to make a formal complaint, we have a three stage process. Our Complaints Manager is Dr Heather Ryan and she will take the initial lead on managing complaints.
Please email any complaints to clinical@formbygp.net (our secure email account).
Our complaints procedure is as follows:
Stage 1: Local resolution. Please email your complaint to the email address above. Please clearly state the nature of your complaint and as much detail concerning dates, times and (if known) names of staff members. A complaint should normally be made as soon as possible, and certainly within 6 months of the date of the event complained about, or as soon as the matter first came to the attention of the complainant.
You will be invited to attend a meeting to to talk through your concerns so we can try and resolve the issue at an early stage.
Dr Heather Ryan will investigate your complaint thoroughly, including reviewing the case in detail and taking statements from all staff members / doctors concerned, then will respond directly to your complaint.
A full response to the complaint will usually be made within 20 working days. If the investigation takes longer we will keep you updated regularly.
Stage 2: External mediation. If you are not happy with the response to your complaint at stage 1, you can inform us that you wish to escalate to stage 2 of the complaints process.
Dr Heather Ryan will provide a written acknowledgement to complainants within 3 working days of receipt of their complaint at stage 2 (unless a full reply can be sent within 5 working days). The patient will be informed that the next step is independent mediation via the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).
Dr Heather Ryan will contact CEDR to arrange independent mediation with the aim of resolving the complaint.
The aim should be to complete this in most cases within three months.
Stage 3: External escalation. If the complaint cannot be resolved by independent mediation, one or more of the following options might be worth considering:
- Contact the Citizens Advice Service
- Seeking assistance from the Patients Association
- Raising the matter with the Care Quality Commission