- You should deal with complaints in a sensitive and timely manner.
- You must be candid when things go wrong.
- You should not discriminate against a patient who has complained.
- If you are an NHS contractor, you must have a complaints procedure that you make available to patients. You should extend this to private patients.
- You should try to resolve complaints in practice.
- You can use the services of the Optical Consumer Complaints Service (OCCS) to help resolve complaints.
- You have responsibilities to provide information about complaints to outside agencies if requested.
C114
This Guidance does not change what you must do under the law.
C115
A complaint is ‘An expression of dissatisfaction, either written or spoken, and whether justified or not, which requires a response’. There is no difference between a ‘formal’ or an ‘informal’ complaint. Both are expressions of dissatisfaction.274
References
274 The Patients Association (2013) Good practice standards for NHS complaints handling [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]C116
Effective complaint handling gives you the best opportunity to de-escalate the issue. If you run a GOC-registered business, you must have a clear complaints protocol and make patients aware of their channels of complaint.275
C117
You should encourage patients to comment on the services they have received.
C118
Feedback and complaints can be an opportunity to improve your service. You should use them to see how you can improve the services that you offer, and share lessons learnt from them.
C119
You should investigate feedback which gives rise to cause for concern as though it were a complaint.
C120
You should acknowledge a formal complaint within three working days in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and within two working days in Wales.276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282
C121
If you provide NHS services, you must have a complaints procedure that you make available to patients.275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282 A complaint that is made orally and is dealt with to the complainant’s satisfaction by the end of the next working day is not considered a complaint for this purpose. You should extend this procedure to private patients.
C122
You should make sure your complaints procedure:
- is clearly displayed to patients
- is easy for patients to use, and available in a format that they can understand
- enables you to deal with complaints quickly and sensitively
- allows you to investigate complaints in a full and fair way
- maintains patient confidentiality
- gives clear outcomes for the patient
- contributes information to practice management and improvements.
C123
If a patient makes a complaint you are likely to need to access their record and use identifiable information. You should make patients aware of who will see information about them and your safeguards for minimising risks to confidentiality.
C124
You should keep a written log of complaints in order to monitor your performance in handling complaints and to identify possible areas for improvement.
C125
If the complaint relates to clinical care, you should keep a record of the patient complaint in the patient record.
C126
You should ensure that other members of the team for whom you are responsible:
- are familiar with the complaints procedure
- know how to deal with patients’ concerns and complaints
- know how to apologise and offer practical solutions.
References
275 General Optical Council (2019) Standards for Optical Businesses, para 2.1.4 [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]276 LOCSU. Quality in Optometry (England) [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
277 The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 SI 309
278 HSC Business Services Organisation: complaints information [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
279 NHS Scotland (2017) Complaints handling procedure [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
280 The Patient Rights (Complaints Procedure and Consequential Provisions)(Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2016 SSI 401 [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
281 Wales: Putting Things Right: Guidance on dealing with concerns about the NHS from 1 April 2011 [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
282 National Health Service (Concerns, Complaints and Redress Arrangements)(Wales) Regulations 2011, SI704(W.108) [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
C127
You must give a helpful and honest response to anyone who complains about the services you have provided. 283
C128
If a patient complains about the treatment they have received, they have a right for their complaint to be heard and dealt with in a sensitive and timely manner. Doing so can help avoid the complaint escalating unnecessarily.
C129
You should always take the complaints of children and young people seriously. You should help them in their complaint if their rights or interests have been denied or abused, if they are unhappy with the care they have received or because they have been denied care.
C130
You should not discriminate against a patient who has complained. You should continue to treat them with respect and courtesy.
C131
You should aim to resolve informal complaints at the time they are made, within the practice. If the complaint is formal, you should:
- send the patient a written acknowledgement within three working days (two working days in Wales) of receiving their complaint and explain how the complaint will be handled, with timeframes284
- tell the patient if you cannot keep to the timeframe and why
- provide them with the name of an individual in the practice with whom they can liaise
- try to contact the patient to discuss their concerns verbally
- ask the patient what they want as an outcome
- offer the patient a face-to-face meeting to discuss their concerns. You should agree to a request by the patient to have someone with them at the meeting
- avoid being defensive when dealing with complaints
- keep the patient informed about the progress in dealing with their complaint
- deal with all the points raised in a complaint
- offer an apology, where appropriate. Giving an apology does not mean you are admitting responsibility, it is a way of showing concern and understanding
- if the patient’s complaint is justified, offer a fair solution. This may include offering to put things right at your own expense if you have made a mistake. At the end of your investigation, write to the patient explaining:
- what you have decided
- any practical solutions you can offer
- whether you are going to make any changes to your practice as a result
- if the patient wishes to take the complaint further, tell the patient that they can complain to the General Optical Council (GOC) or the Optical Consumer Complaints Service (OCCS).
C132
You must keep records of the complaint, along with any relevant documents. These would include details of oral and written communication between you and the patient and a chronology of the investigation process. Any internal documents should be objective and non-judgemental.
References
283 General Optical Council. (2016) Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]284 The Patients Association (2013) Good practice standards for NHS complaints handling [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
C133
If other bodies, such as the OCCS, the GOC or local health organisations, are involved in the complaint, you should provide helpful and honest information, if requested, as promptly as possible. Through your complaints procedure you should make the patient aware of who will see the information about them, and the safeguards that are in place to minimise any risks to confidentiality.
C134
If the GOC asks for information regarding a complaint, you must, subject to any statutory restrictions, provide the information promptly. If you do not provide the information within 14 days, the GOC may seek a court order requiring the information to be produced, unless this is prohibited by law, for example the Data Protection Act 2018.
C135
If a court asks for information regarding a complaint, you must, subject to any statutory restrictions, give the information promptly.
General Optical Council (2017) Supplementary guidance on the professional duty of candour [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
Local Government Ombudsman, Healthwatch and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (2014) My expectations for raising concerns and complaints [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
NHS Scotland (2017) Complaints handling procedure [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
NHS Wales: Putting Things Right: Guidance on dealing with concerns about the NHS from1 April 2011 [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
Optical Consumer Complaints Service [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
The Patients Association (2013) Good practice standards for NHS complaints handling [Accessed 1 Nov 2023]
