Welcome to the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (DHCFT) Patient Experience Team information page.
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are here to support people across Derby and Derbyshire with their mental health, neurodevelopmental conditions, addictions and some children’s health needs. Visit our Who we are page for further information on what we do.
Warning alert
Important Information
Our Patient Experience Team (PET) can only help with information about Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
We are unable to provide information and advice for any other hospital.
If you need help from another NHS organisation you can find your correct Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) or Patient Experience Team on the NHS PALS page.
This section includes questions you may have and answers to those questions on making a complaint.
Are we the right Patient Experience Team for you?
If your enquiry or concern relates to any of the below, then we are not the right team for you:
You have a concern or complaint about another organisation (for example Derbyshire Community Health Services (DCHS), Derbyshire Health United (DHU), Chesterfield Royal Hospital (CRH) or University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) or your GP.
You require urgent clinical advice or crisis support.
You want to talk to someone about cancelling or amending an appointment, any medication requests, you want to make a self-referral or anything else relating to your care.
If you are not the right team for me, how do I contact the team that can help me?
If you want to speak to one of Derbyshire Healthcare Care Teams you can find their contact details on our Services page.
Is there any information I can look at about how to complain?
Absolutely. The Public Service Ombudsman are in the process of updating their video which will be added here soon, the video explains how to make a complaint about NHS care.
Our Patient Experience Team have included additional information about how and where to make a complaint below on this page.
Who can make a complaint?
Anyone can make a complaint if they are affected by something Derbyshire Healthcare (DHCFT) has done, or not done.
If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we will need their consent before we can share any clinical information with you in our response.
When should I make a complaint?
If you are unhappy about something, it is best to tell the Patient Experience Team as soon as you can.
In line with the NHS Complaint Regulations 2009, complaints should be raised within twelve months of the event occurring, or within twelve months of the point at which you first became aware of it.
If you had a good reason for not complaining earlier, we may be able to give you more time.
But waiting longer can make it harder for us to recall events accurately, or staff may have left.
Who can I raise my concern or complaint with?
If you have a worry or concern about the care you are receiving, it is always better to speak with the care team that are looking after you in the first instance. You can find the contact details of your care team by referring to any letter or email you may have received or by locating them on our Services page.
If you feel unable to speak to your care team, your concern hasn’t been resolved, or you want to raise a complaint then the Patient Experience Team are here to help to resolve any concerns you might have with our services, whether you are a patient, carer or member of the public. The team can also pass on any compliments and suggestions.
Our Patient Experience Team will listen to what you want to tell us and if needed they will request that your concern is looked at in more detail by asking for a closer look into your issue.
What does the Patient Experience Team do?
The Patient Experience Team:
Support you to raise your issues in the most appropriate way.
This could be an enquiry, quick resolution or closer look complaint.
Seeks to resolve issues quickly and request investigations when needed.
When required provide clear written responses.
And share learning across the Trust.
How can I get in touch with you?
The Patient Experience Team is available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and you can contact the team in any of the following ways:
Phone: 01332 623751 please leave a voice message and we will call you back
Freephone: 0800 027 2128 please leave a voice message and we will call you back
In Person: Please call us and we can arrange a meeting with you to discuss your concerns
Write to us: Patient Experience team, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Kingsway House (Room 160), Kingsway Hospital, Derby, DE22 3LZ
By completing the complaint form you agree to us using your data as set out in our website privacy policy. We aim to resolve your concern as quickly as possible however sometimes this can take up to 90 days.
Questions you may have
This section includes questions you may have and answers to those questions.
I am not sure how to fill in your complaint form. Is there someone that can help me?
If you would like help making your complaint, then you can contact our local NHS advocacy provider. Their service is free and they are independent. They are there to help you every step of the way including:
Supporting you with explaining your concern or complaint
Helping you understand any information and your options
Speaking on your behalf if you want them to
Ensuring you are treated fairly and listened to
If you would like to talk to them about helping you with your complaint visit our Advocacy page for how to get in touch.
01332 623732 for Derbyshire MIND Generic Mental Health Advocacy Service
Will my complaint and information be kept confidential?
Keeping your information private:
Your information will be held within the complaint file and only used for the purposes of investigating and responding to your complaint.
The Patient Experience Team will share your feedback with clinical staff/Investigators as part of the investigation process. Your complaint will also be discussed with anyone named in the complaint.
If you contact us by email we will respond by email, if you leave a voice message we will call you back.
If your concern is about someone else, we will need their permission before sharing any clinical information.
Please identify your preferred method for us to communicate with you.
If you have any communication needs or reasonable adjustment needs, please let us know.
Fair treatment:
You will not be treated unfairly for raising a concern.
Making a complaint will not impact negatively on your care. Your concern or complaint will not be added to any clinical records.
You and the person involved will not be discriminated against for giving us feedback.
What will happen after you receive my complaint?
How we handle concerns and complaints:
The Patient Experience Team will review your feedback and advise you on the most appropriate way to handle the issue raised. This can either be a Quick Resolution local response or a Closer Look investigation.
Staff that are investigating your complaint will talk with you about the issue raised and when you will receive feedback.
We will tell you of any actions we need to take, they will be used to improve services and help staff learn.
What you can expect from staff:
If you raise a concern directly with your care team, they will try to sort it out straight away.
If the care team cannot resolve it, the Patient Experience Team will work with the care team to address any outstanding issues.
If this doesn’t work the Patient Experience Team will request that your complaint is looked at more closely.
If we need to look into your complaint more closely, we will carry out an investigation that is fair, reasonable, and proportionate to the issue.
Your complaint will be treated with care, sensitivity and understanding.
When will I hear from you?
There are two ways we can support you with your complaint, this is based on the level of response required.
Quick Resolution:
For simple problems, this process helps us deal with your concerns quickly and informally. We aim to acknowledge your contact within 3 working days and a manager would be asked to review your concerns and make direct contact with you to discuss them further. The aim is to resolve issues as quickly and sensitively as possible. For this option, please provide a phone number or email so that staff can contact you.
Closer Look:
If the issues need a more detailed review, we will formally acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days of receiving all of the information we need. Your complaint will then be given to an Investigating Officer. They will contact you to discuss your experience in more depth, then carry out an investigation. Once the investigation is complete, you would receive a detailed written response with the findings. This should be completed within 90 working days. We usually need a phone number and full postal address so we can write to you. However, if you do not want to give your home address, we can send the final outcome by email instead.
What if I am not happy with your response?
If you are not happy with our response to your complaint we will offer you a meeting to talk about any concerns or questions that you may have. If you are still unhappy after our final response and our process has been exhausted you can ask the Public Service Ombudsman to review your complaint. You must contact them within six months of receiving our final response.
A live update showing how many complaints, concerns and compliments we receive.
The latest results from the Friends and Family Test which asks, “Thinking about the service we provide, overall, how was your experience of our service?”
