Patient advice and complaints.

About the patient advice and complaints team

The patient advice and complaints team at NHS Devon handle concerns, comments, feedback, or complaints in relation to commissioning of services, policy, individual funding, and continuing healthcare.

More information is available in our informal feedback and formal complaints policy.

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Informal feedback and formal complaints policy
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Contact us

You can contact us using the details below. Our service is open Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm, however the telephone line will only be available between 10am – 4pm.

Phone: 0300 123 1672 (local call rate number) – open between 10am – 4pm

Email: d-icb.patientexperience@nhs.net

Post:

Patient Advice and Complaints Team
NHS Devon
Aperture House
Pynes Hill
Rydon Lane
Exeter
Devon
EX2 5AZ

If you have feedback about other health services and would like to speak to someone about your experience you should contact the service directly. Contact details for each of the larger NHS services in Devon are listed below.

If the service, you wish to feedback about is not listed please contact us.

Feedback about general practice, dentistry, high street pharmacies or opticians should be directed to the individual service in the first instance.

Where appropriate the team will redirect your contact to the most appropriate service.

If you have already made a complaint directly to the service involved, NHS Devon cannot investigate the same issue.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from that service, you can contact them again to continue your discussion or take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) for an independent review.

Their contact details are provided below.

Working together to manage complaints and enquiries

As part of a cluster arrangement between NHS Devon and NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Boards, and in preparation for a planned future merger, our complaints and enquiries teams are working jointly across both organisations.

This means that your enquiry, concern or complaint may be managed by a member of staff from either NHS Devon or NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. Regardless of which team member responds, you can be assured that all personal information is handled lawfully, securely and in accordance with UK data protection legislation. Appropriate access controls, information governance arrangements and confidentiality requirements are in place to ensure that only authorised staff can access information needed to support your case.

For more information about how your information is used and protected, please read our privacy notices:

Advocacy services

If you are making a formal complaint, you are entitled to ask for an advocate to support you. Requests for an advocate can be made with the advocacy services listed below, their services is free of charge.

Advocacy services for Health Complaints for people living in Torbay and Plymouth is provided by The Advocacy People.

Contact:

PO Box 375
Hastings
TN34 9HU 

Phone: 0330 440 9000

Website: www.theadvocacypeople.org.uk

For people living in the rest of Devon (including Torbay & Plymouth Non-Health complaints), advocacy is provided by Devon Advocacy Consortium.

Email: devonadvocacy@livingoptions.org

Phone: 0845 231 1900

General practice, NHS dental, pharmacy and opticians

If you have feedback or queries related to the following services, contact your practice or the service in the first instance.

  • General Practice
  • NHS Dental services
  • High street pharmacy
  • NHS Opticians
  • Specialised services

You and Your General Practice

This guide tells you what to expect from your general practice (GP) and how you can help them, so you get the best from the National Health Service (NHS). More details can be found here.

If you would like to give feedback or raise a concern about any aspect of You and Your General Practice, you can contact your general practice team. If you would like to provide feedback to us instead, please email us on d-icb.patientexperience@nhs.net

Making a complaint about primary care services

To make a complaint about primary care, the CQC recommends first contacting the service provider directly to resolve the issue. All health and social care services must have a complaints procedure, which you can ask to see. If you’re not satisfied with the outcome, you can also contact your local Healthwatch for help.

Steps for Making a Complaint:

  1. Contact the Service Provider:

Start by contacting the primary care service (e.g., GP practice) directly and explain your concerns.

  1. Use Their Complaints Procedure:

The service should have a designated procedure for handling complaints, which you can request to see.

  1. Raise the Issue with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO):

If you are not satisfied with the service provider’s response or resolution, you can contact the PHSO, contact details are available below.

  1. Contact Healthwatch:

You can also contact your local Healthwatch for support and guidance on making a complaint.

  1. Raise a Concern with CQC:

If you have concerns about poor care or a risk to patients, you can report it to the CQC.

  1. Know Your Rights:

The CQC has information on how to complain and the rights you have as a patient.

This includes GPs, dentists, opticians, and community pharmacy services.

In all cases NHS Devon will recommend a complainant raises their concerns or complaint directly with the healthcare provider: this is the organisation where the patient received the NHS service, for example a GP surgery or dental surgery.

Hospital and community services

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

For feedback related to the following services:

  • Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital
  • Community hospitals and services in Exeter and East Devon
  • Walk in Clinic in Exeter
  • North Devon District Hospital
  • Community Hospitals and community services in North Devon

Patient advice in northern Devon: rduh.pals-northern@nhs.net

Patient advice in Royal Devon and Exeter: rduh.pals-eastern@nhs.net

Complaints in northern Devon: rduh.complaints-northern@nhs.net

Complaints in Royal Devon and Exeter: rduh.complaints-eastern@nhs.net

Phone: 01392 402093 or 01271 314090

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

For feedback related to services at Derriford Hospital.

Email: plh-tr.PALS@nhs.net

Phone: 01752 439 884

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

For feedback related to the following services:

  • Torbay Hospital
  • Community Hospitals in South Devon and Torbay
  • Community Services
  • Continuing Healthcare for South Devon and Torbay

Email: tsdft.feedback@nhs.net

Phone: 01803 655838

Urgent, emergency and out-of-hours care

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

For feedback related to emergency ambulance services for Devon and the south west.

Email: patientexperience@swast.nhs.uk

Phone: 01392 261 585

Patient Practice Group

For feedback about the following areas:

  • NHS 111
  • GP out of hours service

Email: ppg.iucdevon.feedback@nhs.net

Phone: 0117 240 1126

Website: https://practiceplusgroup.com/contact/

Address: Devon Integrated Urgent Care, Practice Plus Group, Stratus House, Emperor Way, Exeter, EX1 3QS

Herts Urgent Care (HUC)

For feedback about the following areas:

  • Devon Dental Helpline
  • Access Healthcare

Email: huc.feedback@nhs.net 

Phone: 0808 260 9934

Website form: https://hucweb.co.uk/contact/complaints-praise/ 

Mental health and community services

Devon Partnership NHS Trust

For feedback related to adult and children mental health in Devon (not including Plymouth). This includes Children and Family Health Devon.

Email: dpn-tr.pals@nhs.net

Phone: 01392 675686

Livewell Southwest

For feedback about the following areas:

  • Adult and Children’s mental health services in Plymouth
  • Community hospitals and community services in Plymouth

Email: customerservicespch@nhs.net

Phone: 01752 435201

Referral services

Devon Referral Support Service

For general enquiries, feedback and advice related to referral management services in Devon and East Cornwall.

Email: drss.helpdesk@nhs.net

Phone: 01626 883 888

Patient transport services

Patient Transport Advice Service (PTAS)

For patient transport enquiries related to patient transport services in Devon (not Torbay).

Phone: 0345 155 1009

Torbay area patient transport service

For patient transport enquiries related to patient transport services in Torbay, Teignbridge and South Devon.

Phone: 01803 656 777

Healthwatch

Healthwatch Devon, Torbay and Plymouth are the independent consumer champion for people using local health and social care services in the county. They can support you with feedback and experiences of health and care services.

Phone: 0800 520 0640

Email:

If you’re not satisfied with a complaint response

Formal complaints will be investigated with the relevant service provider (for example a hospital or GP practice).

Once an investigation is complete, a formal written response will be provided.

There are times where a complainant may not be happy with the response and they can raise these concerns directly with the service provider, who will do all they can to help and support.

Occasionally, it may not be possible to further review a complaint or provide any further response.

In this instance, the complainant may wish to make contact with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who will consider independently reviewing the complaint.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can be contact by telephone on 0345 015 4033 or further details can be found on their website at www.ombudsman.org.uk.