Complaints, Comments and Compliments
How do you feel about the services you have received? If you would like to leave us some feedback about your experience we would be pleased to hear from you. Your complaints, comments and suggestions really help us to improve the services we provide.
The Board is committed to delivering high quality care for all patients, however sometimes people are dissatisfied with the service they have received and wish to make a complaint.
A leaflet is available to help you make a complaint. The leaflet includes what you can complain about, where you can get help, who to complain to and the timescales
for handling your complaint.
It can be found in many places including all hospitals, health centres, the library, the Citizens Advice Bureau and Advocacy Shetland. The leaflet is also available in a variety of formats and languages. To see the range of these and to access the online version, please visit the Health Rights Information for Scotland website.
When we receive a complaint we do our best to resolve it quickly and to your satisfaction. We will write to you to explain what steps we are taking to investigate your complaint and again at the outcome of the investigation.
Where can you get more help?
If you would like support in making a complaint, you can contact the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) which is delivered by the Citizens Advice Bureaux. You can get help with:
Feedback, comments, raising concerns or complaints
If you have comments or complaints about the treatment you have received in hospital, from your GP, dentist, nurse or any part of the NHS, and are not sure what to do next, the Patient Advice and Support Service can help you raise concerns with the NHS care provider and resolve issues informally, and can also guide you through the formal NHS complaints procedure, and support you in your dealings with the NHS.
If ill-health or disability is having an impact on other areas of your life, Patient Advice and Support Service can help with information on your rights to NHS services and assist with information on dealing with the consequences of ill-health or disability, for example with accessing disability benefits.
You can contact the Shetland PASS at:
Citizens Advice Bureau
Market House
14 Market Street
Lerwick
ZE1 0JP
Tel. no. 01595 694696
Fax. no. 01595 696776
Email sicab@zetnet.co.uk. All emails to this address are received by the Citizens Advice Bureau Manager only (or deputy in his absence) and are treated confidentially.
You can also call the National help line number 0808 800 0121. Calls to this number are free and confidential to all landlines and 97% of mobile phone users.
For more information on the Patient Advice and Support Service visit http://www.cas.org.uk/patientadvice
If you find it difficult to make a complaint yourself and want someone to speak for you, you can ask for an independent advocate. An independent advocate is someone from outside the NHS who can speak for you or help you express your views. To find out more about Advocacy, please contact:
Advocacy Shetland
Market House
14 Market Street
Lerwick
Shetland
Tel: 01595 743929/743940
How to complain
Speak to someone there and then
Whenever possible you should tell someone close to the cause of your complaint. Ideally this should be the nurse in charge, the head of the department or practice manager. Very often they will be able to sort things out straight away.
Contact the Complaints Officer
The Board's Complaints Officer is Carolyn Hand. If you need help to make a complaint, she will either help you or advise you how to get independent help if you would prefer that.
You can contact Carolyn at:
Complaints Officer
Brevik House
South Road
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0TG
Phone: 01595 743064 (direct line)
Fax: 01595 696727
Textphone: 18001 01595 743064
Family Doctors (GPs), Dentists, Chemists or Opticians
If your complaint is about any of the above services you should complain directly to the practice or the individual concerned. However if you would prefer to talk to someone not involved in your care you can contact the Complaints Officer or write to the Board's Chief Executive.
Write to the Chief Executive
If you wish you can write directly to the NHS Shetland Chief Executive, he can be contacted at:
Ralph Roberts
Chief Executive
Shetland NHS Board
Brevik House
South Road
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0TG
Your letter of complaint should include your full name and address (in most instances, without a name and address a complaint cannot be investigated) and the name and address of the person concerned if you are complaining on someone's behalf.
If English is not your first language, please feel free to write your letter of complaint in your own language.
It will help us to look into your complaint if you tell us:
- What took place
- When it happened (date and time)
- Where it happened
- Who was involved
We will keep information about you private. We will make a record of your details and complaint, and use it to help us make services better.
How quickly will your complaint be dealt with?
We will try to acknowledge formal complaints within 3 working days. We will then thoroughly investigate your complaint and send you a detailed reply in writing within 20 working days. Complaints about GPs, dentists, chemists or opticians will normally be replied to within 10 working days.
If our investigations are taking longer than usual, we will write to you to explain the reason and tell you when we expect to be able to send you a final response.
Ask for a further meeting
If you remain dissatisfied when you have received our reply, you may ask for a further meeting with an appropriate senior member of staff. It is important that you tell us exactly why you are not satisfied with the reply we have sent you and make clear to us what aspect of your complaint you feel has not been fully addressed.
If you are still not happy you can contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Freepost EH641
Edinburgh
EH3 0BR
Telephone: 0800 377 7330
Fax: 0800 377 7331
Text: 07900 494372
Email: ask@spso.org.uk
Website: www.spso.org.uk
Latest decisions taken by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
To find out what happens to complaints that reach the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, and for further information about the service the organisation provides, click Ombudsman Reports.
