Complaints advice

Deciding to make a complaint?

Making a complaint can feel daunting and scary, and you might be wondering whether it's worth the time and effort. However, if you have problems with an NHS or social care service, you might need to resolve these to get the care you need.

Should I make a complaint?

If your complaint is an immediate or high-risk situation, such as you or your loved one are not receiving enough care, there is a risk to your safety, or you have suffered from discrimination, you should report the problem immediately.

You may decide not to make a complaint because you are worried that it might make your situation worse. You may worry that if you speak to the services directly, you could annoy them, and the standard of care you receive might get worse.

You are not alone – a lot of people don’t make a complaint because of these fears.

But it is important that where services aren’t working as planned, NHS and social care providers learn from complaints, communicate those lessons to people, and improve.

Complaints must be made within 12 months of an incident or of you being made aware of the situation.

What can I achieve through a complaint?

Before you make a complaint, it is helpful to think about what you want to achieve. These can include:

• Getting access to the care you need
• To improve the service, so other people don’t have the same experience you had
• To get an explanation of what went wrong and an apology.
• To get someone disciplined or prosecuted.
• To get compensation

Who can I complain to?

The NHS and social care services are there to provide care to everyone. If you have concerns over any aspect of your care or the actions or decisions of any NHS or social care body, you have the right to make a complaint. Everyone who provides an NHS service in England must have their own complaints procedure. You should be able to find information in the waiting room, at reception, on their website or by asking a staff member.

NHS complaints

You can either complain directly to the service or to the service commissioner (this is the organisation that paid for the service or care you received). You cannot complain to both at the same time.

If you decide to make a complaint, we recommend that you discuss your issue with the service itself as this will be the quickest and easiest way before making a formal complaint using their complaints procedure.

For Whipps Cross and other Barts Health hospitals, complain to the Barts Health complaints team by calling 020 7480 4776 (weekdays 9am to 4.30pm) or email BHNT.CentralComplaints@nhs.net

For NELFT's community and mental health services, complain to NELFT Complaints Department, call 0300 300 1711 or email nelftcomplaints@nelft.nhs.uk or by post at Suite 3, Phoenix House, Christopher Martin Road, Basildon, SS14 3EZ

If you prefer not to complain to the service then you can complain to the commissioners.

The North East London integrated care board are responsible for commissioning these services in Waltham Forest:

• GPs, dentists, opticians or pharmacists
• hospital care, mental health services, out of hours services, ambulance services,
• NHS Continuing Healthcare,
• NHS 111
• community services such as district nursing.

by telephone -  020 8221 5750

by email: nelondonicb.complaints@nhs.net  Please copy to us at info@healthwatchwalthamforest.co.uk

by writing to: Complaints Department, NHS North East London, 4th Floor – Unex Tower, 5 Station Street, London E15 1DA.

For more information see here.

If your complaint is about public health organisations and services that prevent disease, promote health and prolong life then use Waltham Forest Council's complaints procedure.

NHS England deal with complaints for a small number of issues including specialised commissioning, health and justice, armed forces health, public health immunisations and vaccinations and services delivered nationally by NHSE to patients/public (such as Screening Call and Recall, NHS App etc).

Contact NHS England

• By post to: NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
• By email to: england.contactus@nhs.net, stating ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.
• By telephone: 0300 311 22 33 (open 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, except Wednesdays 9.30am to 4.30pm).

If you have followed the complaints procedure but do not think the issue has been resolved or are unhappy with the outcome you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for an independent review.

by telephone 0345 015 4033 (Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm, Friday 8.30am to 12pm).

by writing to: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP 

You can also report the problem to another regulatory body, such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC). CQC are not responsible for dealing with individual complaints, but if it raises concerns over the service, it may wish to investigate further. See here to raise a concern.

Social care complaints

You can complain about any aspect of adult social care, regardless of whether the service is provided by the local authority, a private company or a voluntary organisation. And again, you can complain either to the social care provider or to the service commissioner.

Each social care service will have its own complaints procedure, which should be available to you on request.

You have the right to make a complaint if you have been affected or are likely to be affected by the action or decision of the organisation. You can also make a complaint on someone else behalf if they have asked you to, are incapable of making the complaint themselves, or are deceased.

If your complaint is about social care provided by Waltham Forest Council, or care that is commissioned by the Council, then use their complaints procedure. 

If unresolved, report your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). Call them on 0300 061 0614 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am to 1pm, Wednesday 10am to 4pm) for advice on making a complaint. You can also complain to the LGSCO if you pay for your care privately.

If the service you wish to complain about is provided by a charity, you can report your concerns to the Charity Commission here. If the charity's services are funded by the NHS, complain to the North East London integrated care board. Inform your ward councillors if the charity is funded by Waltham Forest Council. See here to find your ward councillors (wards in Waltham Forest have either two or three councillors per ward).

Report a healthcare professional to their regulatory body in cases of professional misconduct e.g. a doctor can be reported to the General Medical Council.

Take legal action, for example, if you have suffered from clinical negligence, personal injury or breach of your human rights (note that the free advocacy service would not help with this).