Complaints and feedback

Complaints Procedure.docx

📢 Our Commitment to You

At Village Surgery, we are committed to providing safe, effective, and compassionate care. Listening to your feedback helps us improve our services and ensures we continue to meet the needs of our patients.

We value all feedback — including complaints — as an opportunity to learn, improve, and strengthen the care we provide. Importantly, we do not stop at simply responding to concerns. We go further by asking “So what?” — meaning what have we learned, and what have we changed as a result?

This approach ensures that every piece of feedback leads to meaningful action, service improvement, and a positive learning culture, helping us continually enhance the care and experience we provide to our patients.

Common Themes Identified

The main areas patients raised concerns about included:

• 📞 Access to appointments and waiting times
• 🗣 Communication with staff or clinicians
• 📋 Administrative processes (e.g. prescriptions, referrals)
• 👩‍⚕️ Clinical care or treatment concerns
• 📱 Use of digital tools (online forms, messaging)

📚 What We Learned → So What Did We Do?

We review every complaint through our “So What?” framework to ensure learning is translated into action.

📞 Access to Appointments

What we heard:
Patients found it difficult to access appointments or understand the booking system.

So What? (What we changed):

• Introduced clearer signposting and triage guidance
• Provided additional reception training to support appropriate booking
• Increased use of pre-consultation questionnaires to prioritise clinical need

Impact:

• Improved patient understanding of how to access care
• More patients directed to the right care, first time

🗣 Communication

What we heard:
Some patients felt communication could be clearer or more supportive.

So What? (What we changed):

• Delivered staff training on:
• Clear communication
• Managing difficult conversations
• Patient-centred care
• Reinforced expectations for consistent messaging across all staff

Impact:

• Improved patient experience
• More consistent and supportive interactions

📋 Administrative Processes

What we heard:
Delays or confusion around prescriptions, referrals, and follow-ups.

So What? (What we changed):

• Reviewed and streamlined internal workflows
• Introduction of medicine review questionaires.
• Improved tracking systems for prescriptions and referrals
• Strengthened communication between clinical and admin teams

Impact:

• Reduced delays
• Increased reliability of processes

📱 Digital Access & Inclusion

What we heard:
Some patients found digital systems difficult to use.

So What? (What we changed):

• Improved clarity of SMS and online communications
• NHS App and Online Consult Campaign implemented with resources and guidance on how to use this.
• Ensured non-digital access routes remain available
• Supported patients who require additional help accessing services

Impact:

• More inclusive access to care
• Improved patient confidence in using services

🔁 How We Embed “So What?” into Everyday Practice

At Village Surgery, learning is not a one-off activity — it is continuous.

We ensure every complaint and concern:

• ✅ Is reviewed by management and clinical teams
• ✅ Is discussed in team meetings and learning events
• ✅ Becomes a Significant Event Analysis (SEA) where appropriate
• ✅ Results in clear actions and improvements
• ✅ Is shared with staff to support ongoing learning

🌱 Our Learning Culture

We are proud to promote a transparent, open, and learning-focused culture, where:

• Feedback is actively encouraged
• Staff feel supported to learn and improve
• Patients are at the centre of all decisions
• Learning leads to visible and meaningful change

Our “So What?” approach ensures we are not only identifying issues, but actively improving the quality and safety of our services.

📈 Monitoring Our Improvements

To ensure our changes are effective, we:

• Carry out regular audits and reviews
• Monitor patient feedback trends
• Review complaints and learning outcomes
• Track improvements through quality improvement plans

💬 Have Your Say

Your feedback matters and helps shape our services.

If you would like to share your experience, raise a concern, or suggest improvements:

• Speak to a member of our team
• Contact us via phone or our website
• Submit feedback in writing

🙏 Thank You

We would like to thank all patients who have taken the time to provide feedback.

Your voice drives our improvement.

And through our “So What?” approach, your feedback leads to real change, better services, and improved patient care.