Your comments and suggestions are important to us, please click on the 'Suggestions Form' link, complete the form to send them to us.

Please note : only use this form for comments about the practice and suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you.

Medical matters and official complaints cannot be dealt with via this form. If you have a query regarding a medical matter please telephone reception to make an appointment to see the appropriate person.

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint.

Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily with the person concerned, often at the time they arise, and this may be the approach you try first. 

Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so in writing or by submitting a complaint form as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, giving as much detail as you can, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be: 

• Within 12 months of the incident,  
• or within 12 months of you becoming aware of the matter 

If you are a registered patient you can complain about your own care. You are not normally able to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority. 

Send your written complaint to: 

Cherie Irvine/ Stacey Payne, Practice Manager, Higham Ferrers Surgery, 14 Saffron Road, Higham Ferrers, NN10 8ED 

You may also make your complaint directly to the Northamptonshire ICB (Integrated Care Board).

E-mail: northantsicb.patientexperience@nhs.net or write to us: Patient Experience Team, Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Venture Park, Kettering, NN15 6EY

Please give us as much information as you can, including your name and address, telephone number and a brief description of the issues you would like answered.

We will usually acknowledge receipt within three working days, and aim to resolve the matter as soon as possible but will give you some idea of how long that may take at the outset. You will then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than this we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses. 

When looking into a complaint, we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this, and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved if you wish to do so. 

When the investigations are complete, a final written response will be sent to you. 

Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services) we will liaise with that organisation so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. Where your complaint has been initially sent to an incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward this to the correct person to deal with. 

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to refer the matter further to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied with the response. 

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it. In the event the patient is deceased, then we may agree to respond to a family member or anyone acting on their behalf or who has had an interest in the welfare of the patient. 

Please ask at reception for our Complaints Form, which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed. Alternatively, we will send one to you to return to us when we receive your initial written complaint. 

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness, accident or mental capacity, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances that prevent this in your covering letter. 

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.  You may also find that if you are complaining on behalf of a child who is capable of making their own complaint, we will expect that child to contact us themselves to lodge their complaint. 

We may still need to correspond directly with the patient, or may be able to deal directly with the third party 

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you have the right to approach the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. Their contact details are: 

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman 
Millbank Tower 
30 Millbank 
London 
SW1P 4QP 

Tel:    0345 0154033 

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Making a complaint | Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) (to complain online or download a paper form).   

You may also approach PALS, Healthwatch or the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy for help or advice; 

The local Healthwatch can be found at: www.healthwatch.co.uk

The IHCA is able to be contacted at: www.voiceability.org

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is based at  

PALS 

Northampton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 
St Mary's Hospital 
London Road 
Kettering 
NN15 7PW 

Telephone: 0800 917 8504 

Website: www.nhft.nhs.uk/pals