Contact us
We know that despite our best-efforts, we may not always get things right. If we have not been able to resolve your issue informally, or you would prefer to have your issues investigated and responded to more formally, you can raise a complaint with the Trust.
The complaints process is most suitable for investigation into matters that are not ongoing and have already happened. If you raise a formal complaint, this will be responded to following NHS complaint handling standards and within an agreed timeframe. You will always receive a formal written response if you make a complaint, unless it can be resolved within one working day and you are happy not to receive a formal response.
We take all complaints seriously and investigate these thoroughly, fairly and openly. We follow the national guidance for NHS complaints. Please be assured that making a complaint will not adversely affect the care or treatment you receive. Sharing your complaint will allow us to learn from your experience and give us the opportunity to improve services for the future, as well as to try to put things right for you if we can.
We ask that you tell us about your complaint as soon as possible and no later than 12 months after the issue has occurred, so that we can fully investigate your concerns. If your complaint is outside of this timeframe, we will not be able to investigate it unless there is a clear reason as to why it was not made sooner, in line with our Trust complaints policy.
If you have been dissatisfied with any aspect of the treatment or service you have received and want to complain, you can register your complaint by writing to us, emailing us or completing our online complaints form.
Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days. We ask for your complaint to be made in writing wherever possible and can assist you if you need help with this by signposting you to an advocacy agency. If you would rather discuss your complaint with us first, you can also call our PALS or complaints teams who will be happy to discuss this with you.
If you need help or support to make your complaint, there are free NHS Complaints Advocacy Services who can provide assistance and are able to act as your advocate. They are completely independent of the NHS. These details are available from the PALS and Complaints Teams and are specific to the area the complainant lives. You can find advocacy service information on . The PHSO website has additional advice on how to complain about NHS service providers see .
Example advocacy services covering our Hospital:
- The Advocacy People – 0330 440 9000
Email info@theadvocacypeople.org.uk (covering services delivered at Wexham Park Hospital) - POhWER NHS Advocacy – 0300 456 2370
Email pohwer@pohwer.net (covering Surrey and 半岛体育 Park Hospital)
Your local Healthwatch will also be able to advise you if you need advocacy support and can be contacted as below:
- Healthwatch Slough – 0300 012 0184 email enquiries
@healthwatchslough.co.uk - Healthwatch Surrey – 0303 303 0023 email enquiries
@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk - Healthwatch Hampshire – 01962 440 262 email enquiries
@healthwatchhampshire.co.uk - Healthwatch Reading – 0118 214 5579 email helpdesk
@readingvoice.org.uk - Healthwatch Bracknell Forest – 0300 012 0184 email [email protected]
The NHS has a general complaint form which makes it easier for people with learning disabilities to give feedback, raise concerns and make complaints. The complaint booklet will help you understand how to complete it.
Advice on how to make a complaint can be found on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website at
They have produced a useful leaflet of basic, easy to follow steps on raising an initial complaint to the NHS and how to take it further if it isn’t resolved by your hospital. The leaflet is available in a variety of languages and formats, including Bengali, Hindi and .
Please be advised that your medical records may need to be accessed to investigate or resolve your concerns. By contacting PALS, complaints or the Chief Executive, you are consenting to us using these records.
If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we will need their consent before we can begin any investigation into the complaint. They will need to sign a consent form. Consent will also be required where the Trust has been asked to lead on a complaint but needs the input of a third-party organisation (including other NHS organisations).
Your complaint will be allocated a named complaints coordinator who will be your point of contact until we have fully responded to and closed your complaint. They will contact you within three working days of you making your complaint to introduce themselves and to check the details of your complaint and agree what will be investigated.
Your complaint will be either allocated to a 40 or 60 working day response timeframe, depending on its complexity, but we aim to respond to your complaint sooner wherever possible. You will receive a written response to your complaint from the Chief Executive once it has been thoroughly investigated.
We hope that you will find our complaint response helpful.
If you feel that this has not answered your concerns, please let us know in within three months of receiving our outcome. We will decide if we can provide a further written response to your complaint or offer you a meeting with the people involved in your care to answer your outstanding concerns.
If we feel we cannot add further to your complaint, we will let you know this promptly.
If you remain dissatisfied with the Trust’s response and attempts to resolve your complaint, you can ask the PHSO to review your complaint.
The PHSO is completely independent of the NHS. The PHSO can be contacted via their website: or by calling: 0356 015 4033.
If you would prefer, you can raise your complaint to 半岛体育 ICB who commission our services (半岛体育 Integrated Care Board).
If a complaint is made to the ICB, they will determine how to handle it in discussion with you.
The ICB complaints team can be contacted at scwcsu.
If the commissioner decides its best to handle the complaint themselves, we will cooperate fully in their investigation.