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Health NHS and social care complaints Complaining about the NHS Tips and tools to help you complain Dos and don'ts of making a complaint
Dos and don'ts of making a complaint about a health service
This page gives you tips about how you should make a complaint and what not to do.
Reasons to complain
Make sure you have a good reason to complain. For example, certain medical treatments are not without risk. If the risks have been clearly explained to you, you have given valid consent to the treatment, and no professional mistakes have been made, you don't have grounds for a complaint
Make claims with no basis about the organisations or members of their staff. And don't use the complaints procedures to reopen concerns which have already been fully investigated and where no evidence of wrongdoing was found.
Be clear
List your concerns in a clear way, giving the names of the people concerned and the dates of events that have happened. Don't forget to include your full name, date of birth, address and other contact details. In the case of NHS complaints, also give your NHS number.
Bury your complaint in amongst lengthy documentation about things that aren't relevant.
Be professional
Clearly state that you're making a complaint under the NHS or local authority complaints procedure about an issue of concern
Make personal attacks against employees
If you're asking for an explanation of what went wrong, be as clear as possible about the information you want, rather than asking general questions
Make general statements about health and care professionals. For example, a general complaint such as 'Doctors never listen to anything a patient ever says', isn't helpful
Try to get help to make your complaint. Even if you don't get professional help, talk it over with someone else so that they can point out anything which isn't clear
Wait too long before before getting help. For some sort of actions, there are time limits that you mustn't miss
Use straightforward, polite language
Use offensive or threatening language
Be prompt
Raise your concern as soon as possible
Make a complaint about something that happened a long time ago, unless you have a good reason for the delay
Be focused
Stay focused on the main points of your complaint.
Let your attention start to drift onto less important issues
Know what you want
Think about whether making a complaint is the best way of achieving what you want. In some cases, it may be easier for you to work round a problem. But you should never suffer in silence
Feel you have to carry on making a complaint if this no longer feels right for you. You can drop a complaint at any time
Aim to be flexible
Use a complaint as a way of 'scoring points' against the organisation
Page last reviewed: 20 February 2020
Complaining about the NHS
Tips and tools to help you complain
Dos and don'ts of making a complaint
Checklist to help decide whether to complain
Letter of complaint about NHS
Letter of complaint about NHS on behalf of someone else
Tips for writing a letter of complaint
NHS complaints process flowchart