What you tell us matters
How can we help?
In partnership with the
At Circle Integrated Care, we aim to give you the best possible experience while you undergo your diagnosis and treatment. We aim to exceed your expectations every time so we can earn your trust and loyalty.
All of our staff work hard to care for you, your relatives and representatives, in a way that meets your individual needs.
Your feedback makes a vital contribution to these improvements. If you have a compliment, comment, concern or complaint, this page tells you how to make it and what action we will take.
Patient feedback is gathered by sending you a text with a link after you attend an appointment, and all of these are read carefully and acted upon accordingly. Please take the time to complete the link sent to you as it helps us improve our services.
It is always nice for our staff to hear when we have got things right for our patients; any compliments or comments regarding our service are gratefully received.
If you have recently visited one of our MSK clinical hubs, or our dermatology hubs, we'd really value your feedback. You can share your experience by leaving us a Google Review, by clicking any of the below links, which will take you to the review page:
Circle Bedfordshire MSK Service
All concerns are passed to our Quality & Assurance Facilitator who reviews them and logs them on our risk management software, which is reviewed regularly.
You will be contacted by telephone to discuss your concern to ensure that we:
- understand your concern fully;
- investigate all the questions you have regarding your care pathway; and
aim to resolve the issues that you have raised.
We will endeavour to deal with your concerns immediately over the phone where at all possible or update you with a response at an agreed time. If this not possible we will document our conversation with you in a letter to confirm all the points you have raised which will be investigated. This gives you an opportunity to amend the points as appropriate and you will be moved to the complaints process.
The following procedure is regarded as being the ‘local resolution’.
All complaints are passed to our Quality & Assurance Facilitator who reviews them and logs them on our risk management software, which is reviewed regularly.
You will be contacted by telephone to discuss your complaint to ensure that we:
- understand your complaint fully;
- investigate all the questions you have regarding your care pathway; and
- aim to resolve the issues that you have raised.
We endeavour to acknowledge all complaints with a telephone call within three working days of receipt. If we are unable to reach you within two weeks, a letter will be sent asking you to contact the Quality & Assurance Facilitator.
We will then investigate the points you have raised and will respond in an agreed timeframe. This is in the format of a letter responding to each of your points. As a guide, this is normally within 20 working days, but can vary depending on the nature of the complaint. We will keep you informed about any changes in the timeframe. Once you have received this letter that forms our final response to your complaint.
After you have received this letter, and if you remain dissatisfied, we would like to know why. If you remain dissatisfied and raise additional queries this will be opened up as a new complaint and the process will start again with the new queries.
If you are dissatisfied with your final response you will be contacted by the Quality & Assurance Facilitator for clarification, however if a resolution cannot be reached our Quality & Assurance Facilitator will direct you to your local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Complaints process.
We hope that you feel you can come to us and raise your complaint, never the less, should you feel that you are unable to come to us direct, you do have the option to complain to your local NHS CCG. However, they would not normally personally investigate your complaint, instead, simply forward your complaint on to us, we would still have to investigate and respond. The other point is that your complaint would be subject to the local CCG’s own complaint policy document.
We are very sorry if you are dissatisfied with the service for whatever reason and will endeavour to resolve any issues as best we can. Please see the following methods below to raise a concern/ complaint:
By telephone: 01234 639089 – ask to speak to the Quality & Assurance Facilitator.
In writing: Please send your correspondence to the address found on this website under ‘Contact’, marked for the attention of the Quality & Assurance Facilitator.
Via email: Youropinioncounts@circlehealthgroup.co.uk marked for the attention of the Quality & Assurance Facilitator.
We hope that you feel you can come to us and raise your complaint. However, if you need any advice or support during the complaints process, this is available free and in confidence from a range of NHS services.
NHS Complaints Advocates – POhWER – a free and independent service
Address: POhWER, PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL
Telephone: 0300 456 2370 (8am–6pm, Monday to Friday)
Facsimile: 0300 456 2365
Minicom: 0300 456 2364
Website: www.pohwer.net
Email: pohwer@pohwer.net
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Address: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Telephone: 0345 015 4033 (8.30am–5.30pm, Monday to Friday)
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Your local Healthwatch is linked to the address of your GP surgery.
Healthwatch Bedford Borough
Address: 21–23 Gadsby Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 3HP
Telephone: 01234 718018
Website: www.healthwatchbedfordborough.co.uk
Email: enquiries@healthwatchbedfordborough.co.uk
Healthwatch Central Bedfordshire
Capability House, Wrest Park, Silsoe, MK45 4HR
Telephone: 0300 303 8554
Website: www.healthwatch-centralbedfordshire.org.uk
Email: info@healthwatch-centralbedfordshire.org.uk
If you are still not satisfied: Directing your complaint to Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board
Patient Enquiries and Complaints:
Email: blmkicb.contactus@nhs.net
Telephone: 0800 148 8890
Address: Governance & Compliance Team, 3rd Floor, Arndale House, The Mall, Luton, LU1 2LJ
Website: www.bedfordshirelutonandmiltonkeynes.icb.nhs.uk
Your local Healthwatch is linked to the address of your GP surgery.
Healthwatch Greenwich
Address: Gunnery House, 9-11 Gunnery Terrace, Woolwich, London, SE18 6SW
Telephone: 020 8301 8340
Website: www.healthwatchgreenwich.co.uk
Email: info@healthwatchgreenwich.co.uk
If you are still not satisfied: Directing your complaint to South East London Integrated Care Board
Address: Patient Experience Team, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 6ND
Email: SELCCG.contactus@nhs.net
Telephone: 0800 328 9712
Website: www.selondonics.org/icb/contact-us/
Your local Healthwatch is linked to the address of your GP surgery.
Healthwatch Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Address: Unit 1,Byron Business Centre, Duke St, Hucknall, Nottingham, NG15 7HP
Telephone: 0115 956 5313
Website: www.hwnn.co.uk/
Email: info@hwnn.co.uk
If you are still not satisfied: Directing your complaint to Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board
Address: Sir John Robinson House, Sir John Robinson Way, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 6DA
Email: nnicb-nn.patientexperience@nhs.net
Telephone: 0115 8839570
Website: www. notts.icb.nhs.uk
Your local Healthwatch is linked to the address of your GP surgery.
Healthwatch Wolverhampton
Address: Second Floor, Regent House, Bath Ave, Wolverhampton WV1 4EG
Telephone: 0800 246 5018
Website: www.healthwatchwolverhampton.co.uk/
Email: info@healthwatchwolverhampton.co.uk
If you are still not satisfied: Directing your complaint to Black Country Integrated Care Board
Address: Time2Talk, NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) Civic Centre, St Peter’s Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH
Email: bcicb.time2talk@nhs.net
Telephone: 0300 0120 281
Website: www.blackcountry.icb.nhs.uk/have-your-say/time-2-talk
Your local Healthwatch is linked to the address of your GP surgery.
Hampshire Healthwatch
Address: C/O Help and Care, Unit A49, Aerodrome Studios, Airfield Way, Dorset, BH23 3TS
Telephone: 01962 440262
Website: www.healthwatchhampshire.co.uk/contact-us
Email: enquiries@healthwatchhampshire.co.uk
If you are still not satisfied: Directing your complaint to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board
Address: NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, Hampshire Fire and Police Headquarters, Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9SJ
Email: hiowicb-hsi.patientexperience@nhs.net
Telephone: 0300 561 2561
Website: www.hantsiowhealthandcare.org.uk/contact-us/patient-experience-and-complaints
People who use our service are able to use our complaints process and know that:
- They will be treated fairly and their concerns responded to in a way that respects their human rights and diversity.
- They will be able and assisted, where required, to make a complaint in any way they feel comfortable.
- Making a complaint will not cause them to be discriminated against.
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.
Information will only be shared with people who have a genuine need for it (eg. your GP or other professionals from whom you have been receiving care), or if the law requires it (eg. to notify a birth).
However, please be assured that anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential. We treat our patients with dignity and respect. If you feel that this has not been the case, please let us know (scroll up for details of how to contact us).
At Circle we operate a Zero Tolerance policy. This means that no member of our staff will be accepting of any act of aggression, violence or intimidation, both physical and non-physical from any member of staff, patient, visitor or member of the public.
In most cases, patients and their relatives will be appreciative towards those who treat them but a minority of people are abusive or violent towards staff.
Circle is committed to dealing with this problem.
Whilst we are dedicated to our patients, if they are violent, abusive or harass a member of our staff we will not tolerate it. This means their treatment with us can be suspended, and even stopped completely if we perceive this as necessary.