Information for those waiting for a hospital appointment or procedure 

Help us make our services better

We hope that your experience at Frimley Health, whether as a patient, visitor, carer or relative, is positive in every way. However, if you have any comments or suggestions for improvement, please let us know, because your feedback can help us to make changes for the better. We are also happy to hear what we got right for you too.

You can discuss any concerns with the nurses or doctors who are looking after you at any time during your stay, so that we can deal with any issues immediately. We will do our very best to answer your question or to sort out any difficulty that you are having. If we haven’t been able to fix it straight away, then please ask to talk to either the senior sister or matron, whose name and photograph will be displayed on your ward. We like to hear about your problem while we have the chance to put things right for you, rather than after you've left the hospital. 

If you would like to make a comment (which can be anonymous if you would like) you can use this patient comment form, or you can contact our PALS team using the details below.

PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Service

British sign language

We understand that you might feel awkward talking about your concerns with people who are involved in your care, so if you prefer, you can speak confidentially to our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). The team can offer you support and advice during your stay if you have problems that are difficult to resolve. You can also contact PALS after you have left hospital.

Our PALS offices are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can speak to someone face-to-face, or telephone or email them. 
For concerns to do with Heatherwood, please contact the PALS at Wexham Park.

If we have tried, but been unable to put things right and you wish to make a formal complaint, then PALS can also provide you with information on how to do this.

Making a formal complaint

We know that despite our best efforts things can sometimes go wrong.

We take all complaints very seriously, try to learn from them and see how we can improve the quality of our services. If you have been dissatisfied with any aspect of the treatment or service you have received, please let us know in writing so we can investigate and make amends.  We follow the national guidance for NHS complaints. Please be assured that making a complaint will not adversely affect any care you receive.

You can write a letter to our complaints team, at the address below.  Please write within 12 months of the problem occurring.

Alternatively, you may wish to email one of our complaints teams. Formal complaints must be received in writing, however if you need to speak to someone, before writing, their phone numbers are here:

Frimley Park Hospital
0300 613 6530  fhft.complaintsfrimleypark@nhs.net

Heatherwood Hospital
0300 615 4081  fhft.complaintswexhampark@nhs.net

Wexham Park Hospital
0300 615 4081  fhft.complaintswexhampark@nhs.net

You can make a formal complaint using our online form.

Learning disability help
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 www.complainforchange.org

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 Easy Read.

What we will do

Within three working days of us receiving your complaint, you will be given the name of your personal Complaints Coordinator who will be your contact during the complaints process. You will be invited to discuss your concerns by telephone with them. We hope we will be able to get to the bottom of it quickly, however if a full investigation is needed it may take us longer. We will agree timescales with you and keep in touch while we carefully look into what happened. If your complaint includes other agencies, such as social services or your GP, we will ask for your consent to send the complaint letter to all involved organisations, so that you will receive a combined response.

Additional advice

Healthwatch - if you live in Surrey 
Healthwatch Surrey is an independent organisation listening to Surrey residents’ experiences of health and social care in Surrey and providing independent feedback, reports and recommendations to commissioners and providers to influence, inform and, if necessary, challenge decisions and plans both for existing services and new ones.

Click the graphic to leave feedback with Healthwatch Surrey, if you live in Surrey or use the search facility on the Healthwatch website to find your local branch:

Need help to make a complaint?

If you live in Surrey and are unhappy with the NHS treatment you have received, our team can provide free, confidential and independent support to help you to make a complaint about an NHS service. This team is called the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy service. It is provided by Healthwatch Surrey in partnership with SILC (Surrey Independent Living Charity).

You can contact the team via:

• Telephone: 01483 310 500
• Text (SMS): 07704 265 377
• Email: nhsadvocacy@surreyilc.org.uk
• Website: www.surreyilc.org.uk

Advocacy services in Slough
info@advocacyinslough.org.uk
telephone: 01753 415299
text: 07713 711999
advocacyinslough.org.uk 

For advocacy services who support children, young people, and vulnerable adults you can contact the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)
Freephone helpline - 0808 808 1001
help@nyas.net

We hope that the way we deal with your complaint meets with your approval.  However, if this does not happen, we would like you to give us the chance to discuss any outstanding issues by writing to our Chief Executive explaining why you remain disappointed. We will conduct a further investigation and respond to you as soon as possible. You may be offered a meeting to resolve your concerns. The independent advocacy service representative can accompany you to this meeting if you would like them to.

If you are unhappy and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman which makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use. 

To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit their website or call 0345 015 4033.

You can also read the NHS Constitution for further information.