Raising concerns

The health and social care providers for Derby City are always working hard to keep our population well, but sometimes things can go wrong. Healthwatch Derby cannot raise a complaint for you as we are a neutral statutory body, however we can signpost you to the most suitable complaints procedure and advocacy service for your concern and additionally are always able to feed your experience back to the provider anonymously as part of our feedback reporting procedures.

All NHS service providers must have their own complaints procedure, and so in the first instance you should contact the provider of the service with which you would like to raise a concern. This is usually available on their website, at their reception, or displayed as a poster on the walls or notice boards of their patient facing areas.

Visit NHS England to find out more information about how to complain about NHS Primary Care services such as GP’s, dentists, opticians or pharmacists : https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/

Visit Joined Up Care Derbyshire for more information about how to complain about NHS Secondary Care services such as hospital care, mental health services, our of hours services, NHS111 and community based services : https://joinedupcarederbyshire.co.uk/contact-us/how-to-make-a-complaint/

Visit Derby City Council for more information about how to complain about public health organisations or social care providers : https://www.derby.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/customer-services/customer-complaints/#page-1

If you are unhappy with the way your complaint is handled, or you are not satisfied with the outcome, your next step is to contact the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman : https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/ (for NHS complaints) or the Local Government Ombudsman : https://www.lgo.org.uk/ (for social care and local authority complaints).

If you are struggling to find the right contact to raise your concern, please contact us (link to contact us page) and we will signpost you accordingly.

You can also contact PALS : https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/what-is-pals-patient-advice-and-liaison-service/ for more support around the complaints procedure, or more specific service queries.

If you need advocacy to support you to take your complaint forward, contact One Advocacy Derby : http://www.citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk/advocacy/