While we hope that you are happy with the service we provide, we want to make the process easy if you need to make a complaint. Just get in touch with us and we will work hard to resolve it. To thoroughly investigate your complaint, we may need to share some information from your medical records with clinicians and managers who work at the Trust. We will respect patient confidentiality at all times.
Who can make a complaint
While we hope that you do not need to make a complaint about our services, if you do, we want to make the process easy. Just get in touch with us and we will try to resolve it. To fully investigate your complaint, we may need to share some information from your medical records with clinicians and managers who work at the Trust but we will respect patient confidentiality at all times.
Is there a time limit for making a complaint?
If you are unhappy about something it is always best to raise it as as soon as possible and not more than 12 months after the incident or issue occurred. This time limit may sometimes be extended if there is a genuine reason why you could not make the complaint sooner.
How to raise a concern or make a complaint
The quickest way to resolve any issues is usually to talk to a member of staff involved in your care. If you prefer, you can contact our Patient advice and liaison service (PALS).
Patient advice and liaison service (PALS)
If you want to make a formal complaint you can contact our Complaints Department:
Complaints Department,
Maudsley Hospital,
London
SE5 8AZ
Telephone: 020 3228 2444
Email: complaints@slam.nhs.uk
For other ways to tell us what you think of our services visit our feedback page.
Not sure whether to make a complaint?
Contact our Patient advice and liaison service (PALS) if you have a concern but are not sure whether you should make a complaint or not. PALS can help resolve any problems you might have with our services, whether you are a patient, carer or member of the public and can tell you more about the complaints procedure and independent complaints.
When will you hear from us?
We will contact you within three days of receiving your complaint to acknowledge it and make arrangements to deal with it. It is helpful if you could provide a daytime phone number for us to contact you. We will discuss with you how long it will take to respond to your specific concerns.
What to do if you are not happy with our response
If you are unhappy with our response and need further information, you can ask for a meeting with a senior manager to discuss your concerns. The Complaints Department can arrange a meeting for you, email complaints@slam.nhs.uk
We hope the meeting with a senior manager will resolve any concerns. If it doesn't, please contact the Complaints Department again, or your local complaints advocacy service.
You can also ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to investigate your complaint. You should do this within six months of our final response to you. You can write to them at:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,
Millbank Tower
London
SW1P 4QP
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
Help with making a complaint
Your local NHS complaints advocacy service can help you with your complaint. They can write letters, attend meetings with you, and provide interpreters if needed.
They can also provide Independent mental health advocates if you are being treated under the Mental Health Act.
Leaflets about the complaints process
Our main leaflet is:
We also provide the leaflet in the following accessible formats:
Translations of our brief leaflet are available in:
- Complaints leaflet Albanian
- Complaints leaflet Arabic
- Complaints leaflet Farsi
- Complaints leaflet French
- Complaints leaflet Polish
- Complaints leaflet Portugese
- Complaints leaflet Somali
- Complaints leaflet Spanish
- Complaints leaflet Tamil
- Complaints leaflet Turkish
This is our leaflet for people with learning difficulties about mental health services.
NHS England have published a guide for carers of people with a learning disability, autism or both about making feedback, concerns and complaints easier called Ask Listen Do: Top tips for families and carers.
