Patient feedback

Listening to the views of our patients is important in helping us to identify what is working well and what can be improved.

Have you had a great experience with a member of staff and want to pass along your thanks? Thought of a suggestion about how something could be done better to improve your experience? Let us know!

How to share your feedback with us

  • You could complete our Family & Friends Test survey. A paper copy of our Family & Friends Test can be found on our reception desks. Alternatively, all patients with a mobile number attached to their records will receive an SMS following an appointment to invite them to take part in our Family & Friends Test survey. If you haven’t had the link following an appointment, you can complete the Family & Friends Test here.
  • You can discuss your feedback with any member of staff. If they can help you, they will. If they are unable to, they will escalate to a manager. Sometimes the best person to help you is not immediately available, but we will take your details and get back to you within 2 working days.
  • You could share a review of our services online via either our NHS Choices web pages or Google Reviews.
  • You can provide feedback using our 4C’s form (Compliments, Comments, Concerns & Complaints) online or a paper copy can be found on our reception desks.
  • You could consider joining our Patient Population Group (PPG). Our PPG is made up of volunteer patients from our nine surgeries in Chesterfield and Derbyshire who meet with us monthly via Teams to discuss service issues, innovations, and patient experience to assist us in improving our service. Search Royal Primary Care Patient Participation Group on Facebook to join their page or if you’d like to consider joining our PPG as a member, pick up a PPG Interest Form in surgery or visit the PPG area of our website.

Raising a complaint

Should you need to raise a complaint, you can complete our 4C’s form.

If you would prefer to write to us you can email ddicb.rpccomplaintsteam@nhs.net or send a letter to:

The Complaints Team
Royal Primary Care
The Grange
Stubbing Road
Grangewood
Chesterfield
S40 2HP

Depending on the nature of your complaint, we may be able to resolve your issue with a phone call from one of our Team Leaders or Practice Managers which you will receive within 2 working days of us receiving your complaint.

If your complaint is complex and needs to be processed as a formal complaint, we will write to you and acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We aim to investigate and address formal complaints fully within 35 working days. If an extension is required to investigate your complaint we will contact you to make you aware of this.

If we you have raised a complaint with the surgery and you remain unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to request an independent review from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsmen (PHSO). To contact them, you can download a form from their ombudsman website at www.ombudsman.org.uk or telephone Customer Helpline Tel: 0345 015 4033.

What to expect from the complaints process

On receipt of your complaint, we undertake initial checks to ensure:

  • That we have the records and information to enable us to conduct a full investigation.
  • That we have consent to share records if the complaint relates to any external health or social care organisation.
  • That we have consent to disclose information if you are making a complaint on behalf of another adult, this could be a relative or friend.
  • That the complaint is being made within 12 months of the event.

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 3 days, but we may speak to you before this to clarify any points.

We will advise of the timescale in which we aim to provide our reply or meet with you, if we are delayed in our response we will advise you and set a new agreed timeframe.

Our investigation will provide an explanation of what happened, an offer of apology or a statement of regret where appropriate and how we will learn from your complaint and take steps to put matters right.

A complaint cannot provide information of a disciplinary nature.

We will always take your complaint seriously.

Your complaint is not kept in your medical records and will not affect your future care in any way.

We value your opinion and are committed to learning from all complaints we receive. To improve the care and services we provide we share anonymised learning at our clinical meeting and other relevant forums.

Date published: 20th September, 2023
Date last updated: 24th January, 2024