How to complain

• What should I do?
• Who should I complain to?
• What happens after I have complained?
• When will I get a full response?

What should I do?

• If you can, first talk to a member of staff involved in your care. If you do this, they can try to sort out your complaint on the spot.
  
  
• If you are not able to talk to the NHS staff involved in your care, you can ask to speak to a senior member of staff or the complaints officer for the NHS organisation involved.
  
  
• You can complain in person, by phone, or in writing. When complaining, you should give:
• your full name and address (and the patient's name and address if you are complaining for them), and
  
• as much helpful information as possible about what happened, where it happened and when.
  
  
• You can also make your complaint by fax, email or textphone (if available), but if you do this other people might be able to see your personal information.
  

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Who should I complain to?

• You should first complain directly to the person or organisation providing the service.
  
  
• If you do not feel able to do this, contact your local NHS Board to find out who can help you with your complaint. See our section Who can help me with my complaint?
  
  
• If your complaint is about NHS 24 or the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, you should first speak to the person who was dealing with you. If you do not feel able to do this, speak to:
• the complaints officer at NHS 24, or
• the complaints officer at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
  
  
• If your complaint is about the Scottish Ambulance Service, you should complain to their headquarters.
  
  
• If your complaint is about the State Hospital, you should complain to the complaints officer there.
  

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What happens after I have complained?

• The NHS will write to you within three working days of getting your complaint.
  
• This letter should:
• tell you what action will be taken to look into your complaint
• offer you the chance to talk to a member of staff about the complaint
• give you information about independent advice and support, and
  
• give you information about conciliation if this might be helpful.

• The NHS will keep information about you confidential. To investigate your complaint, staff might have to talk to other NHS staff about you or show them your health records.  If you don’t want the NHS to share information from your health records, you should tell a member of staff when you make your complaint, but bear in mind that this may make it more difficult to look into your complaint.

• The NHS will make a record of your details and complaint, and use it to help make services better.

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When will I get a full response?

• The NHS will respond to you within 20 working days of receiving your complaint.
  
  
• If your complaint is about a GP surgery, an NHS dental surgery, an NHS optician's practice, or a pharmacy, the NHS will respond to your complaint within 10 working days.
  
  
• In some cases, the NHS may need more time to give you a full response and won't be able to meet these timescales. If this happens, they will let you know and tell you why.
  
  
• The NHS will let you know you the result of their investigation. They will:
• show that they have looked into your complaint and reply to all the points raised in it
  
• offer you an apology where things have gone wrong
• explain what they will do to stop what you complained about happening again
• if necessary, explain why nothing more can be done about some parts of your complaint
• offer you the chance to talk to a member of staff if there is anything in the letter you don't understand, and
  
• include information about the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman in case you are unhappy with their response and want to take things further (you can find out more in  the section 'What if I'm not happy with the way the NHS has handled my complaint?').

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Page last edited: 30 July 2010