Accessibility for patients and visitors

If I need reasonable adjustments when attending a hospital appointment, what should I do?

Contact the department the appointment letter is from in the first instance and let them know what you will need once you arrive at the hospital. Some examples of reasonable adjustments are:

If you have mobility issues and are unable to walk to the department unaided, it may be possible to request support in advance.
If English is not your first language, an interpreter can be booked in advance of your appointment.
Your GP is likely to have told us that you require communication support and we have processes in place to arrange this.

Where do I get additional help and support?

If you feel your needs are not being met in relation to any reasonable adjustments you need, please contact the Patient Experience Team who can liaise with the services on your behalf.

How do I give feedback regarding my experience?

You can contact the Patient Experience Team using the details contact below to leave feedback such as:

Patient stories
Comments
Compliments
Complaints

Complain for change video

Complain for Change – video

COMPLAIN FOR CHANGE

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Complaining can make things better.

A video with people with a learning disability
Joe faces problems getting an appointment at the doctors

Hello
Hi I would like to book an appointment please to see my doctor.
Which doctor are you with?
I don’t know what their name is. I’m new.
What’s your name?
Joe Abbot
Dr Graham
I think that’s right
(Sighs) Well, that’s what the records say. When do you want to come in?
Soon, please.
The first day I have is on Thursday at 9:30 AM
Is tomorrow Thursday?
No, it’s the day after.
Oh… OK yes please
Anything else?
Can I have a long appointment please?
Do you mean a double appointment?
Er yes I guess
Do you have more than one problem?
No, my old doctor asked me to ask for two together.
Well, everyone else has one unless they have more than one problem
But I need more time to understand what the doctor tells me
Sorry but we can’t do that here unless you have more than one problem. Do you want the appointment on Thursday or not?
(He sighs)
If you have a learning disability you may need more time with your doctor
This is just one reason why you may not be happy with your healthcare.
For example, you may think that your doctor or nurse did not listen to you, respect you or give you information in a way you could understand.
If you are not happy with the service or treatment you are getting from your doctor, nurse, dentist, optician or hospital you can complain.
Complaining can make things better.

For more information go to www.ombudsman.org.uk/complainforchange
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

BSL video resource

Making a complaint to the NHS in England

Making a complaint to the NHS in england – BSL video

Making a complaint to the NHS in England

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

What is a complaint?

A complaint is when you tell an organisation: You are not happy with the service or something they did or didn’t do. You might want an answer or for them to put right the mistake they made.

If you had an NHS appointment and are not happy about the treatment you received, or a family member or someone you care for has received, you can complain.

NHS appointments could be with a doctor, nurse, dentist or optician.

Did something happen that you are not happy about?

Here are a few tips on how to complain to the NHS in England.

What is your complaint?

Be clear: what happened? Who was involved? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why weren’t you happy?

Decide what you want to achieve

Tell the NHS organisation what you want them to do to correct the mistake:
For example, you might want an apology.

Complain as soon as possible –

For example, if the Doctor gave you the wrong tablets, tell them straight away.

Contact the NHS organisation you are complaining about.

Ask for the organisation’s complaint procedure.
Find out if your complaint should be verbal or in writing. Is there a form to fill in?
Ask them when you should expect a response from them.

Ask for help

If you need help to write your complaint because you find reading or writing difficult, please contact us and we will advise you.

Keep your complaint clear and short so the main points stand out.

Include important details, for example, your address, key dates, or a reference number if you have one (for example the NHS number or the number in the corner of a letter you’ve received from your doctor).

Note the names and the job titles of people involved in your complaint.

e.g. the name of the doctor you have spoken to about the complaint.

Contact us –

If you are at the end of the complaints process and you are still not happy or if the complaint has not been sorted out after six months, you can bring the complaint to us.

You should refer the complaint to us within 12 months of finding out about the problem

Contact us

BSL Live Sign Video service: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Minicom: 0300 061 4298

Parliamentary and health service ombudsman – who we are and what we do

Who we are and what we do – video

Who we are and what we do – Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

An Introduction

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is here to investigate complaints that people have been treated unfairly or have received poor service from Government departments and other public organisations and the NHS in England.

We are independent and not part of Government or the NHS.

Our service is free and open to everyone.

We can make recommendations on how to put things right.

This could involve acknowledging a mistake, apologising, paying compensation and asking the organisation to take action to prevent the same mistake happening again.
We share information from our work with Parliament, the NHS in England and public organisations, as well as regulators, to help improve public services and make the complaints system better.

We are the final stage of the complaints system.

You should complete the local complaints process before coming to us.
We want to be accessible.

If you want to make a complaint, you can contact us in a number of ways (details will follow)

By email
Using a minicom
By BSL video letter

Or we can pay for a BSL interpreter to translate your complaint into written English
Please let us know and we will make any adjustments that we can.

Our helpline is open 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday to Friday.

Our email address is: [email protected]
Minicom: 0300 061 4298