We welcome any comments you would like to make about the care and services we provide. Your feedback, whether a compliment, concern or a complaint, is valuable and helps us to improve our services.

All members of staff are very pleased to hear if their care and support has been appreciated. You can pass on your compliments to our Patient Advice and Complaints team who will convey on your thanks to the staff team.

Sometimes there are misunderstandings or things may go wrong. If you are currently receiving care, we would ask that you speak with the Nurse in Charge, Lead Nurse or Matron in the ward or department.  Many problems can be resolved quickly by explaining your concerns to staff.If you have tried this and are still not satisfied, you can speak to the Patient Advice and Complaints team on 01226 432330 or 01226 432571. You can also email bhnftcomplaints@nhs.net.

The team will listen to your concerns and offer advice and support. They can talk to hospital staff to quickly deal with any problems or concerns on your behalf.  If necessary the team can also contact local organisations or support groups for advice and information to help address your concerns.

We would encourage you to let us know as soon as possible if you are experiencing problems as we can work together to put things right quickly.

The Patient Advice and Complaints team can also provide you with advice on NHS Complaints Procedures and how to make a formal complaint.

Yes. Everyone working in the NHS has a duty to keep any information about you confidential.

Not at all – we welcome all your comments because they help us to improve the services that we provide.

We want to deal with concerns and put things right for you as soon as possible. It is appreciated that some people may feel threatened if they complain whilst still a patient at the hospital, and you should be reassured that procedures are in place to prevent this happening.  We also like to know when things are going well for you!

You have the right to make a complaint about any aspect of care provided by Barnsley Hospital. Many people find it useful to discuss their concerns straight away with staff in the ward or department.  However, you do not need to have previously done this in order to make a complaint.We often prefer to have your concerns in writing so that we can be confident that we know from you what the specific issues are that you want to have answers to, and there is less room for confusion.

When sending us your complaint please remember to include:

• Your name
• Contact details
• The date of your treatment
• Where you were treated
• The nature of your complaint
• How you want us to contact you e.g. telephone, letter, email

If someone else is complaining on your behalf it would speed up the process if your consent was included with the complaint.This can be done by downloading consent form and forwarding along with your complaint it with the complaint.

• Download and print the Barnsley Hospital consent form(PDF)

Written complaints should be sent to the hospitals Chief Executive:

• Dr Richard Jenkins, Chief Executive
  Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  Gawber Road
  Barnsley
  S75 2EP

You can also send your complaint:

• Patient Advice and Complaints team Manager
  Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  Gawber Road
  Barnsley
  S75 2EP

• Email: bhnftcomplaints@nhs.net

You can speak to a member of our Patient Advice and Complaints team who will take the details of your complaint and document them on your behalf, and in confidence. You can call the team on 01226 432330 or 01226 432571.

Please speak to a member of the Patient Advice and Complaints team who will be able to explain what support the team can give you. Alternatively you may feel that support from an independent advocacy service may be beneficial. DIAL Barnsley provide an independent, free and confidential NHS complaints advocacy service. The contact details for DIAL Barnsley are:

• Tel: 01226 240273
• Email: info@dialbarnsley.org.uk

Following receipt of your complaint, a member of staff from the Patient Advice and Complaints team will contact you within three working days to explain what will happen next and ask you how you would like us to respond to your complaint.   The Team will also discuss the likely timescales of when you will receive a written response from the Chief Executive (if we are unable to make contact with you to discuss this we will send you a written acknowledgement and invite you to make contact with the Patient Advice and Complaints team).A senior member of staff will be asked to investigate your complaint and they will also make contact with you to discuss your complaint and update you on the investigation.

If the complaint is more complex or a number of departments/health professionals need to be contacted, this may take longer to investigate. Once the investigation has begun, we may find that the initial time agreed with you is not going to be long enough in which to carry out a thorough investigation. In these cases you will be contacted and advised about this. The person investigating the complaint will ensure that you are informed on how the complaint is progressing.

Please contact the Chief Executive or the Patient Advice and Complaints team (either by telephone or in writing) straight away explaining why you are not satisfied and we will look again at your concerns.We can reinvestigate, or look at alternative ways of arriving at a resolution locally.

We do hope this will not be the case. If you still continue to remain unhappy and are not satisfied with your response and the outcome of the ‘local resolution’ then you can consider taking your complaint to the next stage of the procedure and request the Health Service Ombudsman to review your complaint.  You should do this as soon as local resolution is complete.You do not have an automatic right to have your complaint investigated, but if they decide not to investigate you will be told why the decision has been made.

• Further information this can be found at ombudsman.org.uk