Listening to our local communities and learning from feedback’ is one of NHS Gloucestershire’s nine core Values.

The NHS always aims to give a friendly and reliable service, providing you with the treatment that you need when you need it. We hope that this happens most of the time, and we would like to hear about your positive experiences so that we can let staff know when they have done a really good job. However, sometimes things do go wrong and could be improved. If you are not happy about any NHS service you have received or if you have a comment, a concern or a complaint you would like to pass on, there are systems in place to help you tell someone about it.

Anyone who is receiving or has received NHS services can pass on a compliment or comment, raise a concern or make a complaint. If you are not able to do this yourself then someone else, such as a relative, carer or friend, can do this for you with your consent. Details of how to do this are described below.

We would like to reassure patients, carers and members of the public that, by making a complaint you are helping us to improve our services and the care and treatment that you receive in future will not be affected in a negative way.

GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians all have their own complaints procedures so the easiest way to sort out any concern in the first instance is to talk to your doctor, the practice manager or senior partner. If you are not happy to do this, you can talk to a member of the Gloucestershire Community Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who will take up the complaint on your behalf.