PALS Office
Blue Zone
Level 2
Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm
Call: 01634 825004
Email: medwayft.pals@nhs.net
You can make a general comment about the hospital and your experiences, or compliment our staff and the care you have received.
Comments and compliments
At Medway Maritime Hospital we work hard to deliver the highest standard of care and are always seeking ways to improve our service for the benefit of patients and families.
We would love to receive feedback and learn more about your experience. Please let us know how we might improve our services, suggestions for improvement are welcomed.
We recognise that patients, families and carers often like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication shown by individual staff members and teams. If you would like to recognise exemplary care you have a received from a particular team or member of staff, we are keen to hear about your experience. Please let us know so your feedback can be shared with the staff member or team, and they will be recognised for the care they have shown.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) are here to help with any problems or concerns you may have about our hospital services, particularly if you have been unable to resolve them by speaking to the staff caring for you on the ward or in the outpatient clinic.
The PALS team:
- listen to concerns, queries or suggestions
- use their knowledge to help resolve issues as quickly as possible
- provide information on services within the hospital and the local NHS
- find information about voluntary organisations and support groups
- give advice and assistance in making a formal complaint, if one is necessary
- feedback issues, suggestions, compliments and concerns to the relevant staff within the hospital so that improvements can be made to services for all patients.
If you still remain dissatisfied, you have a right to make a complaint formally under the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.
Concerns and complaints
We recognise that there may be occasions when our service does not live up to your expectations. As a Trust we welcome feedback if you feel we could have done better. We look upon concerns and complaints as a way of improving future care for patients and an opportunity to put things right if things have gone wrong. Please be assured that we are committed to treating patients and families fairly and impartially, without discrimination or prejudice.
If you have a concern, worry or complaint please, in the first instance, try to raise it immediately with a member of senior staff on the ward or department and they will be keen to receive your feedback and have the opportunity to make a positive change. After this, if you continue to remain dissatisfied, you can escalate your concerns to a Matron or Senior Manager who will be happy to listen and assist with any problems or concerns.
Alternatively, if you do not feel satisfied with the above actions and you wish to speak to someone outside the ward or department, then please speak to a member of our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team.
Making a complaint
Medway NHS Foundation Trust aims to provide the highest standard of care and treatment for all patients who use our services. We do however recognise, despite that aim, there may be occasions when a service does not live up to your expectations. When this happens, it is the patient’s right to complain or to have someone else do so on their behalf.
As a Trust we welcome feedback if we could have done better. We look upon complaints as a way of improving our future care and as a way of putting things right for others. We are also committed to treating patients impartially and without discrimination or prejudice.
The Trust has a complaints policy which follows the processes contained within the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. It is also compliant with Care Quality Commission Regulation 16: Receiving and acting on complaints.
It is best to make your complaint as soon as possible as this will help us to investigate your concerns more thoroughly. In any event, please make your complaint within 12 months of the incident or treatment you are complaining about.
Contact the Complaints Team.
In writing:
Complaints Department
Medway Maritime Hospital
Windmill Road
Gillingham
Kent ME7 5NY
Email: medwayft.complaints@nhs.net
Call: 01634 825216
When making your complaint it would be helpful if you could include the following details:
- The patient’s name, address and contact number and date of birth
- The complainants contact details
- Details of what you would like to know and any questions you wish to have answered which will help us to provide a full and complete response.
If a family member wishes to complain on behalf of a relative, the patient’s written consent will be required before a complaint is registered and to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. It also helps us to respond more quickly if one person represents the whole family. If a patient is deceased, we will require formal evidence and the complaints team will advise what information is required.
We will offer any support we can to help you understand and use the complaints procedure effectively. This may involve providing information on these procedures in other formats and languages or providing an interpreter if required. We will also advise where and how they you access advice and advocacy services.
If you would like independent help in making your complaint you can contact the Libra Partnership. They are an independent organisation established to support, empower and advocate for patients and families making complaints about their care and treatment and they provide assistance free of charge. They can be contacted at the following address:
Libra Partnership
Invicta Park
Sandpit Road
Dartford
Kent DA1 5BU
Email: admin@librapartnership.co.uk
Call: 01622 200806
When managing formal complaints we will:
- Handle them in confidence, with impartiality, courtesy, empathy and in a timely and appropriate way
- Be fair to both complainants and staff
- Use the information we receive from complaints and feedback to gain insight into patients’ and families experiences of our services and use this to improve the quality of the care and services we provide
- When raising a complaint, we promise that this will not affect ongoing or future care and treatment or negatively impact on the experience
- Ensure compliance with our regulatory and statutory duties as per the Local Authority Social Service and NHS Complaints Regulations 2009 (the Regulations) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Regulation 16: Receiving and acting on complaints.
- Follow the six ‘principles for good complaint handling’ as set out by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO):
- Getting it right
- Being customer focused
- Being open and accountable
- Acting fairly and proportionately
- Putting things right
- Fair, Equal and accessible
We aim to investigate and respond to your complaint within the following timescales:
- 25 working days for non-complex complaint
- 60 working days for complex complaints. These may include; multiple admissions, multi-organisations, complexities of care or the complaint being the subject of another investigation
Your complaint will be investigated within the timescales specified; and you will receive a written response detailing the findings of the investigation and any learning points or actions that have been identified as a result of your complaint.
There may be occasion to delay a response to your complaint this will likely be due to clinicians having to prioritise clinical care or waiting for comments from other organisations involved in the complaint. When this happens you will be contacted and an explanation provided as to the cause of the delay and we will discuss a new timeframe to provide the complaint response letter.
Once received, we hope our complaint response provides assurance that your concerns have been fully addressed, however, if your complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily or you have additional questions, we welcome the opportunity to consider whether there is anything further that can be done to resolve matters.
Please do contact the complaints team to advise which aspects you are unhappy with and what outcome you hope to receive.
If you remain dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, or you have waited over 6 months to receive a response you have the right to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
