Feedback, concerns and complaints

This includes compliments, suggestions, concerns and complaints. Feedback helps us understand what is working well and where we need to improve.

Raising a concern or complaint will not affect the care you receive from the practice.

To make a formal complaint, please write to:

Practice Manager
Eastfield Medical Practice
Eastfield Farm Road, Penicuik

For complaints regarding NHS Lothian, please contact NHS Lothian directly.

What to include in your complaint

To help us look into your complaint properly, please include:

• your full name
• your date of birth
• your address and contact details
• what happened
• when it happened
• who was involved, if known
• how this affected you
• what you would like us to do to resolve the matter

Complaining on behalf of someone else

You can complain on behalf of another person, but we may need their consent before we can share information or respond in detail.

If you are complaining on behalf of another adult, please include their written consent where possible.

If the patient is a child, lacks capacity, or has died, we will consider the complaint carefully and respond in line with confidentiality, consent and data protection requirements.

How long do I have to make a complaint?

You should normally make a complaint within:

• 6 months of the event you want to complain about; or
• 6 months of finding out that you have a reason to complain, provided this is not more than 12 months after the event itself.

In some circumstances, we may still be able to consider a complaint after this time. If your complaint is outside these timescales, please explain why you were unable to complain sooner.

How we handle complaints

We follow the NHS Scotland Complaints Handling Procedure.

When we handle your complaint, we will aim to:

• take your concerns seriously
• treat you fairly and respectfully
• investigate appropriately
• provide a clear explanation
• apologise where something has gone wrong
• explain what action we have taken or will take
• use complaints and feedback to improve our services

Independent advice and support

You have the right to independent advice and support when making a complaint about NHS care.

The Patient Advice and Support Service, known as PASS, provides free and confidential advice and support to people using the NHS in Scotland. PASS can help patients understand their rights, prepare a complaint, and understand the complaints process.

PASS is provided through Citizens Advice Scotland.

If you remain dissatisfied

If we have completed our complaints process and you remain dissatisfied, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, known as the SPSO, to review your complaint.

The SPSO is independent and normally expects you to have completed the NHS complaints process before they consider your complaint. NHS Inform confirms that patients can ask the SPSO to look at a complaint after the NHS organisation has fully investigated it.

You can contact the SPSO on:

Freephone: 0800 377 7330

How we use complaints and feedback

We record and review complaints and feedback so that we can learn from them.

Where appropriate, feedback may lead to:

• staff discussion or training
• changes to procedures
• review of patient information
• service improvement work
• significant event analysis

We will protect patient confidentiality when reviewing and learning from complaints.