Pirklova Limited aims to provide all Patients with the highest standards of care and customer service. If we fail to achieve this, we listen carefully and respond to complaints swiftly acknowledging any mistakes and rectifying them so that we can make improvements to our service. The complaints full policy is made available to patients, their affected relatives, or a representative when they first raise concerns about any aspect of the service they have received.
There will be 3 stages to Provider’s complaints process:
• Stage 1 – Local Resolution
• Stage 2 – Internal appeal
• Stage 3 – Independent external review
All complaints should be raised directly with the CQC Registered Manager in the first instance and should normally be made as soon as possible / within 6 months of the date of the event complained about, or as soon as the matter first came to the attention of the complainant.
The Patient will be given a copy of the complaints procedure and invited to attend a face-to-face meeting with the CQC Registered Manager and other relevant parties to talk through their concerns and to try and resolve the issue at an early stage.
The CQC Registered Manager will go through a thorough process of investigation to include reviewing the case in detail and taking statements from all staff members/doctors concerned. The CQC Registered Manager (or Complaints Manager if different) responds directly to the person who has made the complaint, whether the complaint was made verbally, by letter, text, or email.
To make a formal complaint the complainant should write or e-mail Pirklova Limited Provider clearly stating the nature of their complaint and as much detail concerning dates, times, and if known names of staff members. This will enable us to acknowledge and address the issues raised promptly and effectively.
The CQC Registered Manager will acknowledge receipt of a written complaint, to the complainant’s postal address provided (or via email) within 3 working days of receipt (unless a full reply can be sent within 5 days).
The CQC Registered Manager will investigate all complaints. Where the Provider is unclear on any point or issue regarding the complaint, it will contact the complainant to seek clarification.
A full response to the complaint will usually be made within 20 working days or, where the investigation is still in progress, send a letter explaining the reason for the delay to the complainant, at a minimum, every 20 working days. The aim should be to complete stage 1 in most cases within three months.
In the event that the complainant is dissatisfied with the response to their complaint, they can escalate their complaint to Stage 2 and must do so in writing, within 6 months of the final response to their complaint at Stage 1.
If the complainant escalates their complaint to Stage 2, the CQC Registered Manager will provide a written acknowledgment to complainants within 3 working days of receipt of their complaint at stage 2 (unless a full reply can be sent within 5 working days).
The CQC Registered Manager will have arrangements in place by which to conduct an objective review of the complaint. Normally this will involve a senior member of staff who has not been involved in the handling of the complaint at stage 1.
Stage 2 shall involve a review of all the documentation and may include interviews with relevant staff. The records made as part of the stage 2 review should be complete and retained since these may be required for a stage 3 process.
Provide a review of the investigation and the response made at stage 1.
Invite the clinic that responded at stage 1 to make a further response, where there is an opportunity to resolve the complaint by taking a further look at a specific matter. The complainant should be kept informed of where this happens.
Consider whether the review at stage 2 would be supported by facilitating a face-to-face meeting (or teleconference, where acceptable) between the complainant and those who responded to the complaint at stage 1.
Provide a full response on the outcome of the review within 20 working days or, where the investigation is still in progress, send a letter explaining the reason for the delay to the complainant, at a minimum, every 20 working days.
The aim should be to complete the review at stage 2 in most cases within three months.
In the event that the complainant is dissatisfied with the response to their complaint, they may escalate their complaint to Stage 3.
At Stage 3 complainants have the right to an independent external adjudication of their
complaint.
If the organization is a subscriber to The Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication
Service (ISCAS) then the complainant will be offered the opportunity to take their
complaint to ISCAS, within 6 months of receipt of the Stage 2 decision letter.
Complainants cannot access Stage 3 until they have gone through Stages 1 and 2 and
ISCAS will direct complainants back to the Provider where appropriate. To access Stage 3,
complainants are asked to sign a ‘Statement of Understanding and Consent’, thereby
agreeing to the parameters of Stage 3.
Complainants will need to set out in writing for the Adjudicator:
(a) The reasons for the complaint
(b) What aspects of the complaint remain unresolved after Stages 1 and 2
(c) What outcome the complainant is seeking
from Stage 3 ISCAS contact details are as follows:
Website: ISCAS – Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (cedr.com)
By Post:
ISCAS
70 Fleet Street
London
EC4Y 1EU
Email: info@iscas.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7536 091
If the organization is not a subscriber to ISCAS, one or more of the following routes for
external adjudication will be mentioned:
Contact the Citizens Advice Service
Citizens Advice provides free, confidential, and independent
advice from over 3,000 locations, including in their bureaux,
GP surgeries, hospitals, colleges, prisons, and courts. Advice
is available face-to-face and by phone.
Seeking assistance from the Patients Association
visit: https://www.patients-associati...
Raising the matter with the Care Quality Commission
Call the CQC on:
03000 616161
Email the CQC at: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Look at our website at:
www.cqc.org.uk
(Note the CQC has advised: “The CQC does not have powers to investigate individual
complaints, but our assessment framework asks what arrangements are in place for the
independent review of complaints”.)
Via Legal Action
All staff are expected to encourage service users to provide feedback about the
service, including complaints, concerns, suggestions, and compliments.
Staff are expected to attempt the resolution of complaints and concerns at the point of
service, wherever possible and within the scope of their role and responsibility.
All staff will be appropriately trained to manage complaints competently.
Regular reviews are conducted by the complaints manager to check understanding of the
complaints process among our staff.
Information is provided about the complaints policy in a variety of ways, including some or
all of the following:
On our website
Through our service user feedback brochure
Publicity about the service
Posters in reception
Discretely located suggestion boxes; and staff inviting feedback and comments.
After receiving a formal complaint, our CQC Registered Manager reviews the issues in
consultation with relevant staff in order to decide what action should be taken, consistent
with the risk management procedure.
The CQC Registered Manager or complaints manager maintains a complaints
register/file.
Personal information in individual complaints is kept confidential and is only made
available to those who need it to deal with the complaint.
Complainants are given notice about how their personal information is likely to be
used during the investigation of a complaint.
Individual complaints files are kept in a secure filing cabinet in the complaints
manager’s office and in a restricted access section of the computer system’s file server.
Service users are provided with access to their medical records in accordance with
our Subject Access policy. Others requesting access to a service user’s medical records as
part of resolving a complaint are provided with access only if the service user has provided
authorization in accordance with the Subject Access policy.
Where an individual staff member has been mentioned specifically by a complainant, the matter will be investigated by the relevant manager or supervisor, who will:
Inform the staff member of the complaint made against them.
Ensure that, if possible, the member of staff does not have any contact with the
complainant during the investigation period, or afterward if deemed appropriate.
Ensure fairness and confidentiality are maintained during the investigation; and
Encourage the staff member to seek advice from their professional association/body,
if desired.
The staff members will be asked to provide a factual report of the incident, identify systems
issues that may have contributed to the incident and suggest possible preventive
measures.
Where the investigation of a complaint results in findings and recommendations about
individual staff members, the issues are addressed through the Disciplinary or other
appropriate process.
The complaints manager prepares regular reports on the number and type of complaints,
the outcomes of complaints, recommendations for change, and any subsequent action that
has been taken. The reports are provided to staff and senior management, and if
appropriate, uploaded into a personal portfolio for audit and appraisal.
The complaints manager periodically prepares case studies using anonymized individual
complaints to demonstrate how complaints are resolved and followed up, for the information of staff, and for use in audit and appraisal.
Information about trends in complaints and how individual complaints are resolved is
routinely discussed at staff meetings and clinical review meetings as part of reflecting on
the performance of the service and opportunities for improvement.
Complaints reports are considered and discussed at monthly clinical review meetings and
directors’ meetings.
An annual quality improvement report is published that includes information on:
The number and main types of complaints received common outcomes and how complaints have resulted in changes.
How complaints were managed—how the complaints system was promoted, how
long it took to resolve complaints (and whether this is consistent with the policy) and
whether complainants and staff were satisfied with the process and outcomes; and
The results of any service user satisfaction survey.
The service promotes changes it has made as a result of service user complaints
and suggestions in its general publicity.
Where a complainant becomes aggressive or, despite effective complaint handling,
unreasonable in their promotion of the complaint, some or all of the following formal
provisions will apply and will be communicated to the patient:
The complaint will be managed by one named individual at a senior level who will be
the only contact for the patient
Contact will be limited to one method only (e.g., in writing)
Place a time limit on each contact
The number of contacts in a time period will be restricted
A witness may be present for all contacts
Repeated complaints about the same issue will be refused
Only acknowledge correspondence regarding a closed matter, not respond to it
Set behavior standards
Return irrelevant documentation
Keep detailed records.
The complaints manager continuously monitors the amount of time taken to resolve
complaints, whether recommended changes have been acted on, and whether satisfactory
outcomes have been achieved.
The complaints manager annually reviews the complaints management system to evaluate
if the complaints policy is being complied with and how it measures up against best practice
guidelines. As part of the evaluation, users, and staff will be asked to comment on their
awareness of the policy and how well it works in practice.