Complaints about GP’s, dentists or pharmacies need to be sent to NHS England:

Mail: NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

Email: england.contactus@nhs.net

Tel: 0300 311 22 33.

Healthwatch Southwark has useful advice and resources about how to complain about NHS Services.

Email: info@healthwatchsouthwark. co.uk

Tel: 020 7358 7005.

NHS Southwark CCG

Southwark CCG Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Email: slcsu.complaints@nhs.net

Tel: 0800 456 1517

Hospital, Mental health, Community health, Learning disability

In Southwark there are 3 main hospitals each have their own complaints procedure.

King’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Email: kch-tr.PALS@nhs.net

In Person:

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

On the ground floor of Hambleden Wing, near the main entrance on Bessemer Road.

Tel: 020 3299 3601

By Post:

Patient Advice and Liaison Service, King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS

Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Email: pals@gstt.nhs.uk

In Person:

St Thomas’

Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm.

Knowledge and Information Centre (KIC), ground floor, North Wing.

Guys Hospital

Monday to Friday, 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm.

Ground floor of Tower Wing, near main reception.

Tel: 020 7188 8801 or 020 7188 8803

By Post: PALS, c/o KIC Ground floor, North Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH

South London and Maudsley Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Email: pals@slam.nhs.uk

Tel: 0800 731 2864

Further Action

If you need help and support in the complaints process The NHS Complaints Advocacy Service is a free and independent service that can help you make a complaint about a National Health Service (NHS).

The NHS Complaints Advocacy Service is:

• Free
• Independent
• Confidential

Helpline: 0300 330 5454

Textphone: 0786 002 2939

NHS Complaints Advocates by completing a simple enquiry form that will go directly to the team in your area.

An advocate will contact you within 5 days to discuss your situation.

Advocates will:

• give you an opportunity to speak confidentially to someone who is independent of the NHS
• take time to listen to your experience
• talk with you about what support you need to make your complaint
• give you information about the different ways that you can raise your concerns
• help you to think about what you would like to achieve from your complaint. People want different outcomes when they complain such as an apology, an explanation or an improvement to NHS services.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

The Health Service Ombudsman can carry out independent investigations into complaints made about poor treatment or service provided through the NHS.

This is the final stage of the NHS complaints process and it would normally be expected that the organisation you are complaining about has had the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

To make a complaint about the NHS in England, download a complaint form which gives all the information

you need to make a complaint to the Ombudsman or call 0345 015 4033 to request a copy.

The first stage of the investigation will involve the PCHO contacting the organisation you wish to complain about to ensure that it has completed the local complaints process.

Once a complaint has satisfied preliminary checks, they then move on to investigate it.

The PCHO will talk to the organisation you’re unhappy about.

In other cases, they will carry out an investigation and look in detail at what’s happened.

• They look at all the facts.
• They might need to gather additional evidence and information by speaking to you and the organisation concerned.
• They might seek expert advice.

Every complaint is different and the steps we take in our investigation will vary.

If the PCHO find that the organisation have done something wrong that needs to be put right, they’ll work with them to get that done.

This could mean acknowledging their mistake, apologising, paying compensation and/or preventing the same mistake happening again.