Please contact us if you would like more information about our complaint procedures, or if you want to discuss a particular problem in confidence. Our staff are experienced in dealing with complaints and will give you unbiased advice. You will find our phone number, and information about where else you can get advice, at the end of this booklet.
You can discuss a problem with us at any time. If you decide to make a formal complaint, you should write to us giving as much of the following information as you can.
No, we have our own solicitors to help with the legal side of things. However, if you prefer, you can get your own advocate for personal advice.
No. you can make a complaint at any time, but if your complaint is about something which happened a long time ago, it may be difficult for us to do anything about it. So it is best to let us know as soon as possible if you want us to deal with a complaint. This helps us to avoid legal and practical problems later, and enable us deal quickly with practitioners who may be a danger to other patients.
Yes, you can complain to us whether or not you have complained to another organisation, for example a hospital trust or the police. Sometimes we decide to wait for the other organisation to complete its investigations before we take any action. If you want us to become involved, make sure you let us know about your complaint as soon as you can.
Your complaint will first be screened by the Registrar of Council and the Investigations Officer. They will consider your complaint carefully, looking at the following:
1.How serious the matter is
2.Any other information we may have received about the same doctor
3.The cogency evidence you have given us.
We take all complaints about doctors very seriously. We never reject a complaint at the screening stage
We will need your permission to show the doctor your complaint. If you do not give your permission, we will probably not be able to take your complaint any further. If you are worried about the doctor seeing your complaint, you may find it helpful to talk to your advocate, or you can talk to us about it.
If the screeners decide we should take your complaint further, we may first ask you to make a sworn written Statutory Declaration to support your complaint. We may also need written statements from other people with personal knowledge of events which led you to complain, though these will not need to be sworn statements.
If we decide we cannot investigate a complaint, it will be because the screeners and the lay member agrees that an investigation is not necessary or not justified. These are some of the types of complaints we are unlikely to take forward.
If the screeners decide we should take your complaint further, we may first ask you to make a sworn written Statutory Declaration to support your complaint. We may also need written statements from other people with personal knowledge of events which led you to complain, though these will not need to be sworn statements.
