Suggestions, Comments, and Complaints

We welcome all comments on the services provided by the practice. If you would like to give feedback to the practice, please complete our Feedback form.

Alternatively, please contact the practice manager by telephone or, if you prefer, please contact the practice in writing. Every effort will be made to answer your concerns as soon as possible. Please send your feedback to the address below:

Cobbs Garden Surgery
West Street
Olney
Bucks
MK46 5QG

What we do next

We look to settle complaints as soon as possible.

We will acknowledge receipt within 3 working days, and aim to have looked into the matter within 10 working days

You may then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than this we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

When looking into a complaint we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this, and make it possible for you to discuss the issue, face to face, with those involved if you would like to do so.

When the investigations are complete, your complaint will be determined and a final response sent to you.

Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services) we will liaise with that organisation so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. Where your complaint has been sent initially to an incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward this to the correct person to deal with.

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to escalate the matter further if you remain dissatisfied with the response.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment, and that we can deal with someone else about it.

Please send this written consent to the practice complaints manager, Mrs Penny Giraudeau.

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this in your covering letter.

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.

Where the patient is a child, a complaint can be raised by:

  • Either parent, or in the absence of both parents, the guardian or other adult who has care of the child.
  • A person duly authorised by a local authority to whose care the child has been committed under the provisions of the Children Act 1989.
  • A person duly authorised by a voluntary organisation by which the child is being accommodated.

We may still need to correspond direct with the patient, or may be able to deal direct with the third party, and this depends on the wording of the authority provided.

Complaining further

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you may approach MKCCG for help or advice:

The CCG is NHS Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group.  More information can be found on their website.

Alternatively, you may approach NHS England for help or advice. If you wish to make a complaint via NHS England you can do so by using the following contact details:

NHS England
PO BOX 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Telephone: 0300 311 2233

Email: england.contactus@nhs.net

You can also contact the Health Service Ombudsman:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Telelphone: 0345 0154 033

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk