Complaints
Hear Again Exmouth strives to provide the highest quality of care to all patients and their relatives. Therefore if a patient or their relative feels that the care or treatment has fallen short of this, we need to know as soon as possible, in order to investigate the complaint in a timely, fair and candid way.
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned.
If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.
If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem, or within 12 months from the date on which the event which is the subject of the complaint comes to your notice.
We will be pleased to deal with any complaint, and explain the procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. You can make your complaint:
In person – please call 07852286111 to speak to Karen Anderson.
In writing – please give as much information as you can, then send your complaint to
Hear Again Exmouth 21 Willoughby Close Exmouth Ex85PE We shall acknowledge your complaint immediately (or within 24 hours)
The complainant, or their representative, can complain about any aspect of care or treatment they received at this organisation to the complaints manager, Karen Anderson
If the complaint is made against Karen Anderson and it can not be resolved by discussion, then it can be escalated to an independent body such as ISCAS – Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service.
If you wish to pursue a formal complaint an acknowledgement will be sent to you or your representative within 3 days, and it will let you know how we will be investigating the complaint. This acknowledgement may be by telephone or in writing.
Should a patient or their representative wish to use the services of an independent complaints advocate, they can contact Healthwatch Devon (Tel – 0800 520 0640) who can give details of local advocates.
INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS
Karen Anderson will ensure that complaints are investigated effectively and in accordance with extant legislation and guidance.
- The complainant has a single point of contact in Hear Again Exmouth and is placed at the centre of the process. The nature of their complaint and the outcome they are seeking are established at the outset, the complaint undergoes initial assessment and any necessary immediate action is taken.
- Investigations are thorough, where appropriate obtain independent evidence and opinion, and are carried out in accordance with local procedures, national guidance and within legal frameworks,
- The investigator reviews, organises and evaluates the investigative findings,
- The judgment reached by the decision maker is transparent, reasonable, and based on the evidence available,
- The complaint documentation is accurate and complete.
- The investigation is formally recorded with the level of detail appropriate to the nature and seriousness of the complaint,
- Both the complainant and those complained about are responded to adequately,
- The investigation of the complaint is complete, impartial, and fair, and the complainant should receive full response or decision within six months following the initial complaint being made.
- If the complaint is still being investigated, then this would be deemed to be a reasonable explanation for a delay.
FINAL FORMAL RESPONSE TO A COMPLAINT
Upon completion of the investigation, a formal written response will be sent to the complainant and will include the following:
- Deal fully with all the complainant’s complaints,
- Include a factual chronology of events which sets out and describes every relevant consultation or telephone contact, referring to the clinical notes as required,
- State what details are based on memory, contemporaneous notes or normal practice,
- Explain any medical terminology in a way in which the complainant will understand, contain an apology, offer of treatment or other redress if something has gone wrong,
- The response should also highlight what Hear Again Exmouth has done, or intends to do, to remedy the concerns identified to ensure that the problem does not happen again,
- The response should inform the complainant that they may complain to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if they remain dissatisfied.
The full and final response should ordinarily be completed within six months, although should it be likely that this will go beyond this timescale, Karen Anderson will contact the complainant to update and give a projected completion timescale.