SGPS welcome your feedback and suggestions on how we can improve our services we provide for the people in Sutton. Please inform us if you've had a good experience of care in one of our services. Your comments will help us develop and improve services we provide. The quickest way of doing this is using the feedback form on our website.

SGPS does it’s best to provide high quality health services for the population of Sutton, however sometimes things don't go as they should and, if this happens, we want to hear from you so that lesson can be learnt and similar mistakes prevented from happening again.

Often the quickest way of resolving a concern is by raising it directly with a member of staff as soon as you can. They will attempt to deal with the matter as quickly as possible.

You can also contact your own GP Practice who can raise the problem on your behalf with the members of staff at SGPS without you needing to go through the complaints procedure.

You can make a complaint in writing, by email, over the telephone or in person. Your complaint should be made as soon as possible. This should be within a year of the event. You can make a complaint on your own or on behalf of someone else if you have their permission.

• A Patient
• Someone acting on behalf of the patient with their written consent
• Anyone affected by the actions of an NHS body

• Complaints about privately funded healthcare
• A matter that has already been investigated
• Matters relating to the Freedom of Information Act or the Data Protection Act
• A matter that may compromise any legal proceedings or police investigation
• A complaint made by a health organisation about another health organisation
• Complaints about employment or contractual issues with the NHS

If you have a complaint or concern the quickest way to resolve it is to speak to the manager of the service. If they can resolve the problem straight away they will do so. You can contact the Complaints Manager by telephone, e-mail or letter (details below).

Complaints Manager
Sutton GP Services Limited
Wallington Medical Centre
52 Mollison Drive
Wallington Surrey
SM6 9BY
Telephone: 020 3874 0666
E-mail: complaints@suttongpservices.org.uk

Make your complaint as soon as possible, while memories are still fresh. Usually we will only deal with complaints made within a year of the event you are complaining about or within 12 months of finding out that you had something to complain about. This time limit may be waived if there are good reasons why you were not able to complain earlier and if it is still possible to carry out an effective investigation.

• Your name, address, e-mail (if possible) and telephone number
• Your full name, address, e-mail (if possible) and telephone number of the patient concerned
• If you are not the patient, written permission from the patient for you to take up the complaint on their behalf (a signature on the letter is acceptable)
• A summary of what happened with the dates if possible
• A list of questions that you would like answered
• What you want to happen as a result of your complaint
• Permission for us to copy the complaint to the people who need to take part in the investigation

We will investigate your complaint as quickly and effectively as possible. We will acknowledge receipt of your response within three working days of receiving your complaint. We will keep you informed about the process of our investigation. When we have completed our investigation, we will let you know our findings and any improvements that have already been made or will be made as a result of your complaint.

We hope that we can resolve your complaint at this stage. If you are not satisfied, contact us and we will discuss with you what else we might be able to do. If you continue to be unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask the Health Service Ombudsman to review your complaint.

Support, Empower, Advocate, Promote (seAP) is an independent charity that specialises in the provision of advocacy and related services. The Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA), also will provide you with a Self Help Information Pack (http://www.seap.org.uk/services/nhs-complaints-advocacy/self-help-information-pack.html) to help you make a complaint about your care or treatment using the NHS Complaints Procedure. You can choose to make your complaint with, or without, the support of an advocate. Your decision may depend on how confident you feel about starting the complaints process and the complexity of your case.

Seap Hastings
PO Box 375
Hastings
East Sussex
TN34 9HU
Telephone: 0330 440 9000
E-mail: info@seap.org.uk
Website: http://www.seap.org.uk/