How to make a complaint, Useful Contacts

Useful Contacts
List of contact details, addresses and telephone numbers
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
Trust Complaints
FREEPOST RTCS-SBAL-KBUK,
KMPT Patient Experience,
St Martin’s Hospital,
Littlebourne Road,
Canterbury CT1 1TD
Kent County Council (KCC)
Customer Care Social Services
Kent County Council,
Sessions House, County Hall,
Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ
Tel: 01622 696 364
Chief Executive
Trust Headquarters,
Farm Villa Hermitage Lane,
Maidstone, Kent ME16 9PH
Tel: 01622 724100
Medway Council
Customer Care Social Services
Medway Council,
Health & Community Services
Municipal Buildings,
Canterbury Street,
Gillingham, Kent ME7 5LA.
Tel: 01634 333 036
Complaints Office West
Priority House,
Hermitage Lane,
Maidstone, Kent ME16 9PH
Tel: 0800 587 6757
Complaints Office East St Martin’s Hospital,
Littlebourne Road,
Canterbury CT1 1TD
Tel: 0800 783 9972
Patient Experience Team
(PET) - formerly (PALS)
Phone 0800 587 6757
(West Kent & Medway) or
0800 783 9972 (East Kent)
Email: patientexperience@
kmpt.nhs.uk
Independent Complaints
Advocacy Service (ICAS)
Ground Floor, 7 Vale Avenue,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1DJ
South East Office for initial
enquiries: 0845 6008 616
Tel: 01892 540 490
Fax: 01892 548 057
Email: tunbridgew.icas@
icassoutheast.org.uk
www.kmpt.nhs.uk
How to make a complaint,
raise a concern or pay
us a compliment
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Tel: 01625 545 745
Email: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk
Care Quality Commission
Maid Marian House
56 Houndsgate,
Nottingham NG1 6BG.
Tel: 0115 943 7100
Parliamentary & Health
Service Commissioner
(Ombudsman)
Millbank Tower, Millbank,
London SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Local Government
Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry CV4 0EH
Tel: 0300 061 0614
Please call 01622 724124 if you would like this leaflet
in a different language or format.
If you have a complaint please write to the Complaints
Manager. An interpreter can be made available.
Published February 2014 • Ref: 022
This leaflet will be reviewed no more than three years after issue
Do you have any positive
experiences of our service that
you would like to share?
Are you dissatisfied with any aspect of the
services that we provide or the care or
treatment that you have received?
www.kmpt.nhs.uk
Excellent care personal to you
Excellent care personal to you
Help shape
future healthcare
Making a complaint –
what will happen next?
This leaflet aims to help people who wish
to make a complaint, comment or
suggestion about the services provided by
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care
Partnership Trust. If you have any comments
about the services provided by our Trust,
good or bad, please tell us.
Step 1
We believe that understanding and responding
to patient experience information arising from
complaints, PALS and compliments can help improve
services. By learning from your experiences and views
about our services, we will be able to identify any
learning that will help us to remedy the situation and
shape future health care to meet local people’s needs.
You should be treated with courtesy and respect
at all times. Making a complaint will not harm
or prejudice the care that you, or your relative,
are given.
When to complain
Make your complaint as soon as possible, while
memories are still fresh. Usually the NHS will only
investigate complaints made within 12 months of
the event you are complaining about, or within 12
months of finding out that there was something to
complain about.
However, this time limit may be waived if there are
good reasons why you could not complain earlier and
an effective investigation can be undertaken.
If you have a complaint or concern, the quickest way
to resolve it is to speak to the local staff or manager or
the Patient Experience Team (PET). Compliments can
also be put in writing to the service directly or to PET.
Patient Experience Team
You may if you have a concern about your care
and treatment, but feel unable to speak to the staff
providing your care, or you may just want some
information about local health services. You can
contact the confidential Patient Experience Team
(formerly the PALS Team) by calling the numbers
listed in the Useful Contacts overleaf.
Step 2
You might prefer to put your complaint in writing to
the Trust Complaints freepost address at the back
of this leaflet. The Trust will aim to acknowledge your
complaint within three working days and to respond
within 25 working days or as agreed with you.
Initial complaints about Social Care for Younger
Adult Mental Health Services will be investigated
through the Trust.
Complaints relating to Social Care for Older Adult
Mental Health Services should be referred directly to
the relevant Customer Care Office at Kent County
Council or Medway Council.
Step 3
It is hoped that the Trust’s response will resolve your
complaint but, if that is not the case, please contact
us and we will consider any outstanding concerns
that you might have.
Step 4
If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your
complaint, you may ask the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman to review your complaint if it
is about health services, or the Local Government
Ombudsman if the complaint is about social care.
Who can help you to complain
about your health service?
The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service
(ICAS) is also available to support you and represent
your views, thoughts and feelings when making a
complaint about the NHS. ICAS can also provide
support in other languages and provide support with
a sign language interpreter.
Who can make a complaint?
• A patient
• Someone acting on behalf of the patient with
their written consent
• A person affected or likely to be affected by the
actions of the Trust
What to include when lodging
a complaint
• Your name, address and telephone number
• A summary of what happened, with dates
if possible
• A list of questions you would like a response to
• What you want to happen as a result of your
complaint
• Permission for us to share your complaint with
any other agency involved in your complaint
and if relevant