Feedback and complaints

At Prime Health, we aim to:

• Give our patients the best possible care, in a comfortable environment.
• Ensure our patients feel respected, dignified and looked after by our staff.
• Ensure our service users have confidence in our service quality, performance and competence.
• Identify where our own standards are not met.

A guide to making comments and complaints

Making comments

We aim to provide our patients with the best possible care and are always pleased to receive feedback from you, your family or friends.

If you are happy with your experience, we would like to hear from you but more importantly, we need to know when we have not met your expectations. When this happens, we want to respond to complaints quickly and will take every opportunity to put things right.

Making a complaint

A complaint is a communication from you that requires an investigation, and formal response. If you are dissatisfied with the service provided by Prime Health, please let us know as soon as possible.

Please feel free to approach the staff who have been caring for you, as if you have any concerns they can often be addressed straight away. Our staff will endeavour to resolve any minor issues and concerns immediately to your satisfaction.

If you are still not satisfied, you can put your complaint in writing. We will always deal with complaints in confidence, investigate impartially and give you a clear and complete explanation. It is recommended that you complain within 6 months of the event or the matter coming to your attention. The independent external adjudicators (at Stage 3 of the Formal Complaint Process) have the right to refuse a complaint where the likelihood of conducting an effective review is unrealistic.

Making a formal complaint

Making a formal complaint about your experience at a Prime Health centre involves a three-stage process.

Stage 1

If you wish to make a formal complaint, please contact us in writing or by email providing as much information as possible. If you wish a representative to complain on your behalf, we will seek your consent to communicate with them to ensure your confidentiality.

The relevant senior manager (depending on the centre involved) will conduct a thorough investigation with the relevant staff. Apologies will be given where necessary, the response will be open and honest, and will outline any improvements or change in practice identified.

Please send your letter or email to the address below and we will pass your complaint to the relevant Senior Manager.

Address your letter to:
Governance Department,
Prime Health
Unit 7, The Pavilions
Brighton Road
Pease Pottage
Crawley
West Sussex RH11 9BJ

Or email: governance@medicalimaging.org.uk

What you can expect:

A written acknowledgement within 3 working days of receiving your complaint unless a full response can be sent to you within 5 working days.

A detailed, written response as promptly as we can, usually within 20 working days of receipt. If for any reason it has not been possible to complete the investigation within this timeframe, we will communicate to you explaining the delay, along with an anticipated date for the completion of the investigation.

Stage 2

If you are unhappy with the response from the senior manager you can request your complaint be considered by the Chief Executive of Prime Health, which will be explained in our Stage 1 response letter to you.

Our Chief Executive will review your complaint and either confirm the decisions and actions taken or reach an alternative decision to help resolve the matter.

What you can expect:

A written acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days of receiving your complaint unless a full response can be sent to you within 5 working days.

A detailed written response within 20 working days of receipt. The reply letter will include commentary stating whether the complaint has been upheld and will provide emphasis on changes to improve the service.

If for any reason it has not been possible to complete the investigation within this timeframe, we will communicate to you explaining the delay, along with an anticipated date for the completion of the investigation.

Stage 3

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review by our Chief Executive, you have the right to request an independent external adjudication of the complaint.

This can be done by contacting one of the following within 25 working days of receiving the Chief Executive Officer’s final letter.

For NHS patients:
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Tel: 0345 015 4033
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk

For private patients:
Independent Healthcare Services Adjudication Services (ISCAS)
c/o CEDR – Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution International Dispute Resolution Centre
70 Fleet Street
London EC4Y 1EU

Tel: 0207 536 6091
Email: info@iscas.org.uk