Information for patients, families and friends
What to do if you are unhappy with our service: concerns and complaints
We hope you are satisfied with the support you receive from Trinity. If you do have any concerns or complaints however, we want to hear them, so we can learn from your experience and improve what we do.
Your comments matter
Your views are important to us. They help us understand what we are doing well and where we can improve Our aim is to treat any concern or complaint in the strictest confidence, and in a courteous and open way, so that we understand your concerns and respond to them promptly and thoroughly.
Telling us your concerns
We understand that it can be difficult and distressing to complain about your care or treatment, particularly if you do not feel well.
We will support you as much as possible by talking to you about your concerns and trying to resolve them quickly and satisfactorily. We can provide access to interpreter services if you need them.
If there is something you are not happy about, please tell us as soon as possible, so we can investigate while the event is fresh in people’s minds.
There are four ways you can let us know what you think about our services and your experience. You can:
Speak to a member of staff, who will listen to what you have to say and try to resolve any problems. If they are unable to help, they will explain the next steps available to you
Write to Trinity ’s Chief Executive, Emily Carter by email to ecarter@royaltrinityhospice.london or by post using the address on the back of this leaflet
Use the complaints form on our website –the form is automatically sent to relevant senior staff to investigate www.royaltrinityhospice.london/complaints
Write a letter and hand it in at reception or pass it to any member of staff
Please try to give as much information about the nature of your concern as you can. For example, what happened, where it happened, when it happened and who was involved.
What happens next
Once we have received your concern or complaint, we will agree with you whether it can be resolved by staff in the area where the issue arose. If it can’t, then it may be best to deal with it through our formal complaints process.
If
your complaint is dealt with formally, we will:
Write to you within two working days to confirm that we have received your complaint and are investigating it
Investigate your complaint within 20 working days and let you know what we find out and whether we need to change any areas of practice
Let you know if we cannot respond within 20 days. We will tell you the reason and inform you when we will be able to respond.
If your complaint involves other organisations as well as Trinity, we will agree with you and them whether the issues should be handled separately. Alternatively, we may work together to provide you with a joint response
Taking your complaint further
If you are concerned about the way we managed your complaint, you can ask the Chair of our Patient Services Committee, who is a member of Royal Trinity Hospice’s Board of Trustees, to review the process.
Email: psc.chair@royaltrinityhospice.london
If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint, you can ask for it to be independently reviewed. We can provide you with more details of how to do this.
Getting help to make a complaint
There are many organisations that can offer you free help, support and advice on how to make a complaint These include:
Citizen’s Advice
Citizen’s Advice is a network of local charities offering confidential advice, for free.
Tel: 0800 144 8848
Text Relay: 18001 then 0800 144 8884 www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Independent Complaints Advisory Service can advise you on which organisation might help and at what stage you should approach them. This service is provided by POhWER (www.pohwer.net); Voiceability (www.voiceability.org) and The Advocacy People (www.theadvocacypeople.org.uk) depending on the borough you live in.
Your local council may provide support for people making , or considering making , a complaint about their care or treatment.