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