How to share your experience or make a complaint
 

If you have any concerns about your care or treatment, or that of your relative, we need to know about them as soon as possible, so we can take action to improve the situation. We encourage people to share any concerns that they have so that we can understand these and ensure that an appropriate response is provided. 

If you have a concern or complaint about your care, or the care of your relative in hospital or in any of our services, please bring this to the attention of the nurse in charge of the ward or person in charge of the department and team in the first instance who should attempt to resolve the issue immediately. We also provide a number of additional means of raising your concerns and compliments:-

• If your concerns are urgent and cannot be resolved by the nurse in charge of the ward, or person in charge of the department please ask to speak to the Matron on duty or Senior Nurse or Manager. The ward staff will make contact with the Matron, and they will either speak to you on the phone or attend the ward, depending on the nature of the complaint. The Matron will make a record of your concerns and agree a course of action with you. This is available 24 hours a day - at night; your call will be dealt with by the Night Nurse Practitioner who is a senior nurse. If you are concerned that your concerns are not being actioned, or you would like to speak to a member of non-clinical staff the PALS & Complaints team will be available to support you and their details are below. 
• During working hours (Monday to Friday), all concerns should be directed to the PALS & Complaints Team, on 0161 922 4466. Staff will agree a course of action with you and make a record of your concerns. An answer machine is available if the team are currently on another call or you are contacting us out of hours. If you wish to leave a message a PALS & Complaints Officer will return your call at the earliest opportunity or email palsandcomplaints@tgh.nhs.uk
• If we are unable to resolve your concerns straightaway, and you would like these to be reviewed, you may wish to make your complaint more formal in which case you can write to Quality & Governance, PALS & Complaints Department, Silver Springs, Tameside General Hospital, Ashton Under Lyne, OL6 9RW, send an e-mail to palsandcomplaints@tgh.nhs.uk or telephone 0161 922 4466
• A concern should be raised as soon as possible after the event has occurred; however the time limit is generally 12 months. Once a complaint has been received, an acknowledgement will be sent and a course of action with be agreed, including a timescale in which the Trust expect to able to fully respond.

Additional Information
 

We have a detailed policy and procedure for dealing with complaints.

Our complaints procedure is based on the NHS complaints procedures, details of which are on the NHS website: - NHS Complaints Procedure

For information about how to make a complaint see this leaflet: - Complaints Leaflet

You can obtain independent assistance with your complaint and Independent Complaints Advocacy from Healthwatch Tameside on 0161 667 2526.

If you need support with making a complaint about NHS care or treatment the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICA) is a free service that can assist you. ICA can provide you with advice on how to make a complaint and help you write your letter of complaint. The service can also speak to the hospital or service on your behalf. You can call ICA at the Manchester Advocacy Hub on 0161 834 6069 or email: advocacy@gaddum.org.uk  or write to them at The Gaddum Centre, Gaddum House, 6 Great Jackson Street, Manchester, M15 4AX.

PALS, Complaints and Concerns Service Survey
 

The NHS England toolkit for assurance and Governance of Complaints handling highlighted the importance of providers monitoring complaints processes.

Have you contacted our PALS, Complaints and Concerns service, and have we provided you with the response? Please tell us how we did?

The link complaint survey here takes you to our anonymous survey on PALS, Complaints and Concerns Service Survey. This helps us monitor the service we provide.

If you remain dissatisfied with the Trust’s response to your concerns once local resolution has been exhausted, you have the right to request an investigation by the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Telephone: 0345 015 4033