Our questionnaires are a great way of capturing your feedback and will be given/sent to you after your consultation and/or at the end of your treatment. If you prefer not to use the questionnaire as a way of providing compliments, please contact the Clinic Director instead. Compliments about staff are always fed back to the person mentioned, through their line manager.
If you have a concern please talk to any member of the team straight away so that we can try and put things right without delay. If the person you share your concerns with can’t help then they will make sure that they find someone who can help.
If your concern is serious then you can make a complaint to any member of the team who will arrange for you to speak with the clinic’s Quality Manager or another senior member of the team if they are not available. You can also put your complaint in writing to the Quality Manager.
Tell us the details of your complaint and, if possible, how we can put things right. It would also be useful if you let us know how you’d prefer us to contact you – we want to make sure we communicate with you in the most effective way.
We want to manage complaints effectively and fairly and to make sure we can do that we’d ask that you alert us to a problem as soon as possible. If a complaint is raised 12 months or more after the issue is identified then it can be difficult to fully investigate and we may decide that we can’t look into the complaint.
To make a complaint you should speak, email or write to the Quality Manager.
Your complaint should ideally include:
Very strict rules apply to our patients’ confidentiality and if you are complaining on the behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. We will require confirmation of their consent in writing from the person concerned before we can disclose their personal health information to you.
We will send a written acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days. We will probably want to contact you to discuss your complaint and to explain next steps. Depending on the type of complaint it will be referred to the most appropriate senior team member to investigate. Once the investigation is complete, the Quality Manager will contact you with a full response within 20 working days, or will send an update on the progress with the investigation with a new proposed deadline if there is a delay in completing the investigation. We’ll probably also contact you to offer the opportunity to meet with the Quality Manager and relevant staff to discuss your complaint.
We’d really encourage a meeting: the CARE clinic teams need to understand when things aren’t as they should be and will value an opportunity to understand and make things right.
If you don’t feel your complaint has been resolved after meeting with the CARE team and/or receiving a response from the clinic’s Quality Manager we can arrange for you to meet with or have a further review of your complaint by the Clinic Director.
CARE aims to be open so if there is a problem with your treatment or care we will tell you honestly what has happened as soon as we can. We will give you information, try to answer your questions and tell you what we are doing to put the matter right.
CARE Fertility Bath
feedback.bath@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Birmingham
feedback.birmingham@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Liverpool
feedback.liverpool@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility London
feedback.london@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Manchester
feedback.manchester@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Northampton
feedback.northampton@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Nottingham
feedback.nottingham@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Sheffield
feedback.sheffield@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Tamworth
feedback.tamworth@carefertility.com
CARE Fertility Tunbridge Wells
feedback.tunbridgewells@carefertility.com
If you still feel that we have been unable to resolve the complaint, then you can contact CARE’s Chief Executive Officer or one of the independent bodies.
Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
Email: enquiriesteam@hfea.gov.uk
Helpline: +44 (0)207 291 8200
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Helpline: +44 (0)300 061 6161
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
If you have any queries about whether the Ombudsman will be able to take up your case, please contact the helpline: +44 (0)345 015 4033
NHS England
Website: www.england.nhs.uk
Email: England.contactus@nhs.net
Tel: +44 (0)300 311 22 33
CARE will ensure that all documentation is made available to the external investigating agency, with your agreement, when requested.
The following organisations can be contacted for support and advice:
Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS)
To find your nearest PALS office use the NHS Choices Website
NHS Complaints Advocacy
Website: www.nhscomplaintsadvocacy.org
Email: nhscomplaints@voiceability.org
Helpline: +44 (0)300 330 5454
Citizens Advice
Website: www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Helpline: +44 (0)345 04 05 06