Our dedicated staff speak to service users and carers every day, providing treatment, care and support in a wide variety of settings. These interactions can occasionally identify areas of concern such as being unhappy with the waiting time for an appointment or poor communication and wanting to clarify issues regarding that experience with another member of the team. These are issues which our Trust staff want to help and support you with at the point of the concern being raised. We actively encourage people to discuss any issues they have with our staff at the point of receiving care, as they may be able to sort the issue out to your satisfaction quickly and without the need to make a complaint.
We do however recognise that not all issues can be resolved as they arise and the Customer Service Team & Experience Team strive to help you to resolve them satisfactorily.
Our Customer Services and Experience Team consists of:
- Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
- Service User and Carer Experience
- Complaints
Our Customer Services and Experience Team aims to:
- Advise and support service users, carers and families
- Provide information on NHS and Adult Social care services.
- Listen to your concerns, suggestions or queries.
- Welcome complaints in a positive way.
- Ensure that any learning as a result of concerns being raised is shared across the organisation.
- Be open to any comments or suggestions you may have and we’ll be delighted to receive your compliments.
- Help to sort out problems quickly on your behalf, and put you in touch with other sources of help.
If you require help regarding your mental health, please visit our Urgent Help page.
Early Resolution
The Customer Services and Experience Team will listen to your concerns or complaints and advise how they will be able to help. The team also provides information and 'on-the-spot-help' to service users and carers.
The Customer Service Team & Experience Team will work to resolve any concerns promptly and will take measures to ensure that, where appropriate, policies and working practices are amended so that the issues do not happen again.
All concerns are important to us and are treated in a confidential manner, ensuring that your concern does not affect your current or future treatment.
By listening to and acting on service users' and carers' comments, we aim to be influential in improving standards of care using every concern or complaint as an opportunity to learn and develop.
You can also contact Customer Service Team & Experience Team if you wish to let us know if you are satisfied with our services or just have a suggestion that may help others.
How to contact Customer Services and Experience Team to make a suggestion, comment or compliment, or to raise a concern or complaint
- Email customerservices
@mpft.nhs.uk and include your name, contact details and brief details of your concern. - Text 01785 783023 include your name, contact details and brief details of your concern.
- Call freephone 0800 783 2865. If we are unable to take your call please leave a message with your full name and contact number.
The Customer Service Team & Experience Team will be returning calls between 9.30am to 4.00pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).
We endeavour to respond to all enquiries within one working day but at busier periods it may take longer. Please be assured you will be contacted.
We are committed to making sure your issues are addressed and resolved at the earliest opportunity.
We are unable to manage enquiries or queries which relate to other NHS organisations, therefore if your query is related to:
Services based at either the Royal Stoke University Hospital or County Hospital please contact the PALS service at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust on 01782 676450 or email patientadvice.uhnm@nhs.net
Primary Care services such as GPs, Dentists, Opticians, Pharmacy services, out of hours services and 111. In all cases, please contact your local Integrated Care Board (ICB):
Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent ICB on 0808 196 8861 or email PatientServices
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB on 01952 580407 or email STW.
If you need to contact the ICB in other areas please visit NHS England website
Mental Health Services in North Staffordshire: please contact Combined Healthcare on 0800 389 9676 or email patientexperienceteam
Social Care Services within the city of Stoke-on-Trent: please contact Stoke-on-Trent City Council on 01782 234 234 or email customer.
Healthcare in Prison, Military healthcare & specialised services that support people with a range of rare and complex conditions, please contact NHS England on 0300 311 22 33 or email england.
If your email relates to services that are not managed by Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, the Customer Services Team will automatically forward your email to the appropriate organisation on your behalf.
Complaints
As a Trust we actively welcome complaints and see these as an opportunity to enhance our care and continuously improve. We try to resolve all complaints quickly and efficiently and work with the clinical teams to provide an early resolution wherever possible. If you are unhappy with a response you have received or would prefer to have your case handled as a complaint from the outset you can of course request that your concerns or complaints are dealt with formally.
We are a learning organisation and complaints are important to us; they help us to identify faults or areas for improvements.
We treat any complaint seriously and in complete confidence, ensuring your complaint does not affect your current or future treatment.
If you would like to make a complaint, this should normally be made within twelve months of the event you wish to complain about, or within twelve months of the date you found out about the problem. To do this, please complete the "Complaints, Concerns and Compliments" form at the bottom of this page.
If a complaint is made to us after that 12 month deadline, we will consider it if:
We believe there were good reasons for not making the complaint before the deadline, and
It is still possible to properly consider the complaint
We aim to:
- Acknowledge your complaint either verbally or in writing within three working days following the date of receipt and will arrange for a complaint handler to contact you to discuss your concerns further.
- Investigate all issues raised with respect, fairness, confidentiality, and without prejudice to the service user.
- Provide a full response by the method you would prefer, within the agreed timescale. If your preferred method of response is verbal (by telephone or a meeting), the content of this discussion will be confirmed in writing.
- If you remain dissatisfied with our response or would like clarification, we can arrange for a senior manager of the Trust or the complaints manager to contact you.
As an alternative to making a complaint to the Trust directly, you may wish to contact NHS England [How to complain to the NHS] or your local Integrated Care Board.
Integrated Care Boards (ICB)
Everyone who provides an NHS service in England must have their own complaints procedure. You should be able to find information in the waiting room, at reception, on their website, or by asking a staff member.
You can either complain directly to the service or to the service commissioner (this is the ICB organisation that paid for the service or care you received). You cannot complain to both at the same time.
Your local Integrated Care Board (ICB) handles complaints about:
- GPs
- dentists
- opticians
- pharmacists
- hospital care
- mental health services
- out of hours services
- ambulance services
- NHS Continuing Healthcare
- NHS 111
- community services such as district nursing
Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board
Telephone: 0300 123 1461
Email: enquiries
Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board
Telephone: 01952 580 407
Email: stw.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
After we have taken all possible action to resolve your complaint locally, if you remain dissatisfied, you can refer your complaint for consideration to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, by writing to:
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Complaints Helpline Telephone: 0345 015 4033
E-mail: phso.
You can also contact the Health Service Ombudsman from a textphone on 0300 061 4298 if you are deaf or have problems using a standard telephone.
If you would like support in making your complaint, an advocacy organisation may help you to do this. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service would be happy to provide you with this information but we hope you will find the details below helpful.
Asist
Asist provides specialist independent advocacy support focused on one-to-one, issue-based advocacy services for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, or mental health issues.
Advocacy is about enabling people who have difficulty speaking out to speak up and make their own, informed, independent choices about decisions that affect their lives.
- Telephone 01782 845584 (Stoke-on-Trent)
- Telephone 01785 246709 (Staffordshire)
- Email referrals
@asist.co.uk
Asist Head Office
Winton House
Stoke Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 2RW
Healthwatch Staffordshire
Healthwatch Staffordshire is a health and social care champion for the public offering advice, guidance and information to the public.
Healthwatch supports the public with information and advice on health and social care concerns.
Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent
Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent is a health and social care champion for the public offering advice, guidance and information to the public.
Healthwatch supports the public with information and advice on health and social care concerns.
Healthwatch Shropshire
Healthwatch Shropshire provide a free, independent and confidential health complaints advocacy service for residents of Shropshire. This is a free service which offers some assistance with guiding you through the NHS Complaints process.
Healthwatch Shropshire is a specialist advocacy agency, with immense experience and can be contacted:
- telephone 01743 237884
- WhatsApp 07813 458 955
- email enquiries@
healthwatchshropshire.co.uk
Telford & Wrekin Independent Complaints Advocacy Service
Telford & Wrekin Independent Complaints Advocacy Service, delivered by POhWER, provides independent advocacy to support people who wish to make a complaint about an NHS funded service. Anyone who is considering making a complaint about NHS care or treatment can download self-help information from POhWER's website.
People who need more information, advice or support can contact POhWER:
- by telephone 0300 456 2370
- by SMS text message: send the word 'pohwer' with your name and number to 81025
- by email pohwer
@pohwer.net
Their postal address is:
PO Box 17943
Birmingham
B9 9PB
For Residents Outside Staffordshire and Shropshire
NHS Complaints Advocacy is able to signpost you to your local confidential health complaints advocacy service. This is a free service which offers assistance with guiding you through the NHS Complaints process and can be contacted on 0300 303 1660.
If you don’t agree with a decision about your care, you can ask for it to be looked at again.
How to ask for an appeal:
- Talk to the person who made the decision.
- Fill out the appeals form on our website.
Who can ask for an appeal?
Anyone affected by the decision can ask for an appeal. You can also ask someone else, like a family member, friend, or carer, to do it for you.
What decisions can be appealed?
- Decisions about the type or amount of care you get, under the Care Act 2014.
What decisions can’t be appealed?
- Decisions made more than six weeks ago.
- Decisions that have already been reviewed.
- Decisions made by other parts of Staffordshire County Council or Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.
How we handle your appeal:
- We’ll let you know we got your request within three working days.
- We’ll contact you within seven working days to explain your options.
- If you’re still unhappy once the decision has been reviewed, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman at 0300 0610614 or by mail at PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH.
- If you use British Sign Language, you can contact us through InterpretersLive! This is a free online service provided by SignSolutions.
If you are unable to use the online appeals form:
- Call the Customer Services and Experience Team on 0800 7832865 or e-mail customerservices
@mpft.nhs.uk - Send a text message to 01785 783023
If you are a service user detained under the Mental Health Act, as an alternative to using the Trust's Complaint's Procedure, you can ask the Care Quality Commission to take forward your concerns. An explanatory leaflet is available on all wards.
It is recognised good practice for NHS Trusts to have an Early Resolution and Complaints outcome page.
Ask Listen Do is about making it easier to tell people how you feel about your health care, social care or education. It is also about other people listening to you and making your care, education or support better.
How to tell us if you have any concerns about your care or treatment
If you don’t like something about your care, you can raise a concern. That way, we can fix what you’re worried about.
You can speak to:
- Your doctor, nurse, or other member of staff
- To the person in charge of the ward or service that is looking after you
- Our Customer Service and Experience Team
This video by NHS England will show you to how to:
- raise a concern (when you don’t like something about your care)
- make a complaint (when something goes wrong)
If we can't fix your concern, you can make a complaint.
The Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust provides Specialist Learning Disability services across South Staffordshire and Shropshire. More information regarding these services.
Customer Services Contact Form
The information submitted using this form will be held and used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. The Data Controller is Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust will not disclose such information to any unauthorised person or body but, where appropriate, will use such information in responding to your complaint. The Trust may on occasion have a duty to share information in line with the Data Protection Act 2018, such as for sharing with the Police for Safeguarding. The Trust will store this data in an electronic format.