NHS Complaints

We are trained to help people use the NHS complaints process if they wish to complain about:

• NHS hospitals
• General Practitioners (GPs)
• Ambulance services and paramedics
• District nurses
• Mental health services
• Dentists (if they treat them as an NHS patient)
• Pharmacists (if they had an NHS prescription)
• Opticians (if the NHS pays for their eye tests and/or glasses)
• NHS funded care (if the NHS paid for someone to be treated at a private hospital or pays all or part of someone’s Care Home fees, for example).

Who can have help from an Independent Advocate?

• Anyone can have the support of an Independent Advocate during a complaints process
• A person can make a complaint on someone else’s behalf, either with their written permission, or in the case that they have passed away
• A person can make a complaint on behalf of someone who lacks mental capacity, or on behalf of a child under 18 years old if they are unable to complain themselves.

Making a complaint

Your advocate can:

• Provide a confidential and independent service for you to discuss your complaint with
• Explore the different stages of the complaints process with you
• Help you to format and compose any letters you wish to send in relation to your complaint
• Assist you to prepare for and attend any resolution meetings you are asked to attend
• Assist you to escalate your complaint if you are not happy with any responses that you receive

It is important to understand that your advocate cannot advise or influence your decisions in any way and that they are there to provide you with information and the possible options, not their own opinions. Support can be accessed over the telephone, email or by a face-to-face meeting with an advocate at our drop in’s and can be provided at any stage of the complaints process.