If something has gone wrong
We would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all.
Every member has the right to complain about the care or the service they have received, and to have that complaint acknowledged, investigated properly and answered. We do not always get everything right, and telling us when we have not is how we find out.
This page explains how to complain, what happens next, how long it takes, and what to do if our answer does not satisfy you.
How to complain
Tell any member of your team, or contact our Complaints Lead directly. You can complain in person, by telephone, by letter or by email. There is no requirement to put a complaint in writing, and nothing is treated less seriously for being raised verbally.
Write to Curia Health LLP, Units 3-4, 42 Orchard Road, London N6 5TR.
Tell us what you would like to happen. It helps to know at the outset what outcome you are looking for: an explanation, an apology, a change to the way something is done, or something else entirely. If you do not say, we will ask.
When to complain
Please raise a complaint within twelve months of what happened, or within twelve months of becoming aware of it. We will still consider a complaint brought later where it is reasonable to do so and a fair investigation is still possible.
What happens next
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.
One person leads the investigation and is your single point of contact throughout, so you are never passed around. We establish what happened, what should have happened, and what needs to change. Where a clinician is the subject of the complaint, they do not investigate it.
We will keep you updated while the investigation runs, and where it would help we will offer to meet you, in person or by video, before we write to you. Most things are resolved faster and better in a conversation than in correspondence.
We aim to give you a full written response as soon as the investigation allows. The outside limit is six months. If it is going to take longer than that, we will write to you before the six months is up, explain why, and tell you when to expect our answer.
Who can complain
The person affected, or someone acting on their behalf. That includes:
- A representative acting for a child, where we are satisfied they are acting in the child's best interests. A child who understands what they are complaining about may complain in their own right.
- The personal representative of someone who has died.
- Someone acting for a person who is unable to complain themselves, or who lacks capacity within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, where the complaint is in that person's best interests.
- A third party acting with the consent of the person affected. We will ask for your name and address, the name and either the date of birth or address of the person affected, and their contact details, so that we can confirm they are content for you to act.
- Someone holding a power of attorney that covers health affairs.
You are welcome to bring a friend, a family member, an independent advocate or your own legal adviser to support you at any stage, or to act for you with your written consent.
Complaints about your information
If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal or health information, it follows the same route and the same timescales. Our Website Privacy Notice explains what we hold and why, and members should read the Privacy Notice for members. You can also complain directly to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
If your care was in the United States
Curia Health LLP receives complaints in the first instance wherever you are. Where your complaint concerns care provided in the United States, we will pass what is relevant to our US practice and tell you that we have done so. That practice's own procedures, and the rights set out in its Notice of Privacy Practices, apply alongside this page.
If you are not satisfied
Curia Health LLP is an independent practice and is not part of the NHS, so the NHS complaints procedure and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman do not apply to us.
Our regulators
Medical services in the United Kingdom are delivered in partnership with CHHP Research Ltd, which is registered with the Care Quality Commission under provider ID 1-11736819118. You may raise concerns about the regulated service with the Care Quality Commission at any time. The CQC cannot investigate or resolve an individual complaint, but it uses what it is told to inform how it regulates providers.
CQC National Customer Service Centre, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA. Telephone 03000 616161. cqc.org.uk
Our physicians are registered with the General Medical Council, and you may raise a concern about an individual doctor with the GMC at gmc-uk.org.
Confidentiality, and what it does not affect
A complaint is kept separately from your medical record, and only the people who need to see it in order to investigate it will see it. Complaining will never affect the care you receive from us.
Using this process does not affect your right to take legal action at any time, and it does not affect any other right you have.
What we do with what you tell us
Every complaint is recorded and reviewed as part of our clinical governance. Where something needs to change, we change it and we write down what changed. That is the part of this process that matters most to the people who come after you.