The following information is applicable to patients living in England, and being treated by NHS England. No information provided should be taken as formal legal or medical advice.

Informal discussion

If you are concerned with the care you are receiving in the NHS, you should first discuss your concerns with your clinical team, assuming that you feel comfortable doing so.

For example, this may be your GP or the consultant-led team treating you at the hospital.

This can be the quickest and easiest way to resolve any issues, and so should be your first port of call. By being open with your concerns and discussing them, any misunderstandings can be addressed. NHS clinicians are specialists in their fields, and so their decisions should be in your best interests.

Organisation level

If you feel uncomfortable directly discussing your concerns with the clinical team, or you are unsatisfied with the results of your informal discussion, you can contact your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).

PALS is a “free, confidential service and independent service that you'll find in most hospitals.”¹ Your local PALS team can discuss your complaint with you in an impartial manner, helping you to decide whether to proceed with a complaint.

If you are not being seen at a hospital with a PALS team, or you have decided to proceed with your complaint, you should try to locate the complaints team for the provider you are being seen by. 

Within the NHS, this could be your GP practice, your hospital or a provider in the independent sector. You will always have the right to submit an official complaint to the provider, and they have a responsibility to clearly signpost their complaints process.

When making a complaint, it is often useful to refer to your local Healthwatch (www.healthwatch.co.uk) , who provide advocacy and advice services for patients.

Commissioner level

The NHS functions through statutory bodies, such as your local integrated care board (ICB), who commission providers, such as your local hospital trust, to provide services in your area. 

As such, you can also choose to complain to the commissioner of your service. While they may be harder to locate, NHS England provides a number of links from where you can start looking (link).

Importantly, you should not complain to the provider (organisation providing the service) and the commissioner at the same time. Complaints procedures in the NHS are designed to be coordinated, and therefore complaining to multiple organisations about the same issue should not be necessary.¹

Last resort

Alternatively you can send a complaint to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. They are typically “the final stage for unresolved complaints” and as such, it is important that you first seek to engage with the provider and/or commissioner first, before progressing to the ombudsman as required.²

Still unsure where to go?

First of all, read through NHS England’s guide on How to complain to the NHS.

If you are still unsure, there are various organisations who can help you in making a complaint. These organisations include the Patients Association Citizens Advice and the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

Sources:

1. How to complain to the NHS. By NHS England. Link: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/how-to-complain-to-the-nhs/
2. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Link: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint/before-you-come-to-us