We aim to acknowledge your complaint within three working days, if not sooner.
We will discuss and agree with you how your complaint will be handled and the outcome you can expect, and when you can expect to receive this. If you are making a complaint on behalf of somebody, we will require signed consent from them, to take this forward on their behalf. A consent form will be sent to the patient for their signature so that the complaint investigation can begin.
Your complaint will be investigated thoroughly and in confidence, and in the event the investigation is likely to take longer than anticipated, you will be contacted at the earliest opportunity to agree a suitable extension.
After your complaint has been investigated, we will send you a response in the format you have requested, for example by letter or email.
Information arising from the investigation of your complaint will be used to help identify areas of improvement in Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust services.
Help with making a complaint
It can be helpful to get in touch with an independent service for guidance and support about your complaint. NHS Complaints Advocacy provides free independent advice to people about the NHS complaints procedure and they can help you make a complaint.
To contact the advocacy service, PohWER:
Call 0300 456 2370 or email pohwer@pohwer.net or fax 0300 456 2364
Website: www.pohwer.net
Address: POhWER, NHS Complaints Advocacy, PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL
If you are unhappy with the outcome
If you are not happy with the response to your complaint, in the first instance please contact the Complaints service or the named contact in your complaint response to discuss how we may be able to help.
If there is nothing further we can do to resolve your complaint, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to request an independent review of your complaint.
To contact the Ombudsman:
Call 0345 015 4033 or email phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Address: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP
Your feedback on the complaints process
It is very important to us that members of the public not only feel able to raise their concerns but are happy with the actions that we take as a result.
If you have had cause to raise a complaint with Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, we would value your feedback regarding the complaints handling process.
In order to monitor how well we respond to complaints, we would be grateful if you would take the time to complete our short online questionnaire. We will look at your feedback and use it to review and improve our complaints procedure.
Your response will be treated confidentially and there is no need to include your name.
Take the survey - give your feedback
Further information
For further information regarding Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust(HCT) complaints service, please read our Complaints leaflet:
