PATIENT COMPLAINT INFORMATION SHEET –
DIVERSE MINDS CLINIC

At Diverse Minds Clinic, we strive to provide the best possible service for our clients. However, we recognise that sometimes you may feel that we have not met your needs.

If you have any complaints or concerns about the service you have received from the doctor or other staff working here, you are entitled to raise a concern.

We have an in-house complaints procedure to deal with your complaint.

This procedure does not deal with matters of legal liability or compensation.

Our promise to you

We will:

Listen to your complaint or concern
Respond by establishing a clear, appropriate plan of action, and provide you with relevant support and advice
Improve the service in response to the concerns raised.

How to make your complaint

We aim to resolve your compliant promptly. If your problem cannot be managed immediately, we will make you aware of this and the reasons why. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

Please make your complaint in writing to the Registered Manager – Dr Alessandra Cappai.

enquiries@diversemindsclinic.co.uk

If you would like assistance with making your complaint, a member of staff will be able to help you complete your complaint.

Please be assured that any complaint you make, written or verbal, will be treated in strict confidence. It will have no effect upon the level of treatment and care that you receive.

If you would prefer a family member, friend or advocate to make the complaint on your behalf, we will work with them, and yourself, to resolve the problem.

However, whilst we can receive a complaint on your behalf, we cannot provide any medical information to a third party without your authority.

What happens next?

Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days of receiving it. This may be in the form of a phone call to you (or your advocate) to make sure we fully understand your complaint.

We aim to make a full response to you within the next 21 working days.

During that time we will conduct an investigation to find out more about what has happened and whether there is any action that can be taken to put things right.

If at the end of those 21 working days, we are still conducting our investigation, we will notify you of this. We will keep you fully informed until our investigation has been concluded.

As a result of the investigation we will:

Make sure that you receive an apology
Find out what happened and what went wrong
Make it possible for you to discuss the problem further
Keep you informed of our progress
Identify what we can do to make sure that the event does not happen again.

Getting further help with your complaint

We hope that, through our complaints procedure, we can resolve your problem satisfactorily. We believe that this will give us the best chance to put things right and also provide us with an opportunity to improve our service.

Where the complaint cannot be resolved between both parties, independent external arbitration will be sought by our Registered Manager.

Complaints information will be available on the Diverse Minds Clinic website, including the process to follow and relevant contact details. Diverse Minds Clinic will provide information in support of any specific communication needs, including easy-read, large font or information in a preferred language.

Complaints Process

The Complaint Resolution Procedure has three stages and reflects the principles of the ISCAS Code of Practice:

Stage 1 Local resolution within the individual practice

Stage 2 IDF Complaint Resolution Procedure to review the complaint

Stage 3 Independent Adjudication from ISCAS

Please note that Stages 1, 2 and 3 fall within the ISCAS Code of Practice for Complaints Management.

A copy of this can be obtained from the IDF or from ISCAS.

Attention is drawn to the sections of the ISCAS Code which clearly explain what the Code does and does not cover.

If the complaint is not covered by the ISCAS code then stages 2 and 3 will not be available.

Stage 1

To start the formal Complaint Resolution Procedure, the client should initially send an email to The Registered Manager, stating their concern or complaint:

enquiries@diversemindsclinic.co.uk

Complaints should normally be made as soon as possible, within six months of the date of the event, or within six months of the matter coming to the attention of the complainant.

The time limit may be extended where the complainant has good reason for not making a complaint within the specified time limit and there is a realistic opportunity of conducting a fair and effective investigation into the issues raised.

The Registered Manager at Diverse Minds Clinic will send an acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint within three working days. The complainant will be offered a meeting to discuss the issues raised and to agree, along with confirmation of who will manage the complaint (Registered Manager).

The investigation of the complaint will involve reviewing document, correspondence and clinical records, as well as statements provided by other parties involved, where applicable.

Assistance will be provided for complainants with a disability or specific communication need.

A full response to the complaint will be made within 20 days of receipt of the complaint.

If the investigation is still in progress after 20 days, a letter will be sent to the complainant explaining the reason for the delay. A full response made within five days of reaching a conclusion.

In any event, a holding letter will be sent to the complainant every 20 days where an investigation is continuing or Is In progress.

If the complainant remains dissatisfied following the final Stage 1 response, they can request a review of the complaint (Stage 2), by writing to:

Complaint Manager

The Independent Doctors Federation

Lettsom House 11

Chandos Street

Marylebone

London

W1G 9EB

Stage 2

The IDF Complaint Resolution Procedure will consider the complaint. The IDF Complaint Manager will send an acknowledgement of the letter within three working days of receipt of the complaint and will request a summary of the matters that remain outstanding.

The complainant will be invited to attend a meeting at the start of Stage 2 in order to obtain a greater understanding of what the complainant hopes to achieve by escalating the complaint.

The IDF Complaint Manager will not have been involved in the matters that led to the complaint or the handling of the complaint at Stage 1.

The complainant will be asked to consent to the release of records from the Doctor/health professional. The IDF Complaint Manager will undertake a review of the documentation, any correspondence, the handling of and response to the complaint at Stage 1.

The IDF Complaint Manager will write to the complainant when the review is completed to either confirm the outcome at Stage 1 or to offer an alternative resolution.

At this time, the IDF will advise of the right to take the matter further to Stage 3 Independent External Adjudication by the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISACS).

Throughout the process, all information, documents and records relevant to the complaint will be treated in the strictest confidence. No information will be divulged to any parties who are not involved in the IDF Complaint Resolution Procedure, unless required to do so by law.

Stage 3

This stage is only available if the complainant remains dissatisfied once Stage 1 and Stage 2 are exhausted. It aims to bring about a final resolution of the complaint to both parties.

In such a situations, the complainant should request the adjudication by writing to the Secretariat:

Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS) CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution),

3rd Floor 100 St. Paul’s Churchyard

London

EC4M 8BU

Tel: 020 7536 6091

Email: info@iscas.org.uk

This written request for adjudication must be made within six months of the final determination by the IDF at Stage 2. The complainant should provide reasons to explain the dissatisfaction with the outcome of Stage 2.

ISCAS will acknowledge receipt of the request within three working days. ISCAS will seek confirmation from the IDF that Stage 2 has been completed.

ISCAS will notify the IDF of a request for Stage 3 independent external adjudication. The IDF will respond to requests from ISCAS within ten working days and confirm whether Stages 1 and 2 have been completed.

ISCAS will then be the complainant’s main contact once adjudication is started. The complainant will be asked to consent to the release of records from the doctor and the IDF relevant to the complaint.

ISCAS will issue the decision within 20 working days or provide a progress update every 20 working days if the decision is delayed. A report will be made to the complainant, the health professional concerned and the IDF.

Additional information about ISCAS can be found at:

https://iscas.cedr.com/

Additional information for about the IDF can be found at:

IDF – www.idf.co.uk

Care Quality Commission

You may also contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if you feel that your complaint is not being dealt with in a satisfactory manner.

CQC can be contacted on 03000 616161

Further information can be found on their website:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us/how-complain/complain-about-service-or-provider

Note: the CQC will not arbitrate in a complaint. We are required to make their contact details available to you and they may discuss the complaint with us.

You can tell CQC about any poor care that you have seen or experienced.

Although CQC are not able to take forward complaints on your behalf, information given to CQC helps protect others from going through the same experience.

General Medical Council (GMC)

You can raise a concern to the GMC about a registered doctor here:

https://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/raise-a-concern

You can also email the GMC at: feedback@gmc-uk.org.

You can write to GMC at: Corporate Review team General Medical Council 3 Hardman Street Manchester M3 3AW

You can call GMC on: 0161 923 6602

Textphone users can use the Text Relay Service. Dial 18001 then 0161 923 6602

Further information can be found here:

https://www.gmc-uk.org/about/get-involved/complaints-and-feedback-about-our-service/how-to-raise-complaint

When you raise a concern, it’s important that you send everything from the list below as early as possible. This information will help GMC to decide whether they can investigate. GMC will need:

the doctor’s name and work address
the doctor’s GMC reference number – you can find this on our registers, or you can call the contact centre for assistance
an explanation of your concern, including the date(s) when the incident(s) happened
copies of any supporting information, such as any letter or emails you’ve sent to the relevant organisation, NHS trusts or health boards about your concern
the names and addresses of anyone else who witnessed or was involved in the incident.

If GMC are not able to make a decision using the information you’ve provided, they will let you know why. They may ask you for additional information that would help them to consider your concerns further.