Patient advice and complaints

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

If you, your relatives or your carers are unhappy with any aspect of your care, or the service you receive while you are staying in hospital or attending an outpatient clinic, you or they should speak to a member of the ward or clinic staff as soon as possible. If you feel unable to speak directly to staff, then the PALS Team will listen to your concerns and advise how they will be able to help.

All concerns are important to us and treated in a confidential manner, ensuring that your concern does not affect your current or future treatment.

The team provides information and “on-the-spot-help” to service users and carers. PALS will work to resolve any concerns promptly and will take measures to ensure that, where appropriate, policies and working practices are amended so that the issues do not arise again.

By listening to and acting on service users’ and carers’ comments, the aim of PALS is to be influential in improving standards of care.

You can also contact PALS if you wish to let us know if you are satisfied with our services.

We will do all we can to answer your concerns. If a problem arises while you are at the hospital, please feel free to contact a member of staff or the PALS team. The PALS office is open weekdays 9:30am to 4:30pm, and is located near the Main Entrance of East Surrey Hospital.

Telephone: Call PALS on 01737 231 958

Email: sash.pals@nhs.net

You can also raise your concerns by using the online concerns and complaints form.

Compliments for SASH staff

Has someone made a difference today? Tell us about a team or member of staff who provided high quality care and service. We will share your comments with them and their team.

Complaints – our aim 

We aim to work with you until you are satisfied that we have answered your complaint fully and honestly. As part of the process, we will:

• Acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receipt
• Thoroughly investigate all issues raised with respect, fairness, confidentiality and without prejudice to the service user
• Provide a full response by the method you would prefer, within an agreed and reasonable timescale. If your preferred method of response is verbal (by telephone or a meeting), the content of this discussion will be confirmed in writing
• Ensure you are kept informed of progress during our investigations

If you would like to make a complaint, this should normally be made within twelve months of the event you wish to complain about, or within twelve months of the date you found out about the problem.

Telephone: 01737 768 511 x6825 during office hours

Email: sash.complaintsteam@nhs.net

Write to:
Complaints team
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital
Canada Avenue
Redhill, Surrey RH1 5RH

If your complaint concerns a relative, please include the full name, address, and date of birth of that person. Please note in this instance we may, for patient confidentiality reasons, seek their consent to reply to you.

How we manage complaints

Our complaints policy sets out how SASH responds to complaints, concerns, compliments and comments.

Care Opinion

Alternatively, you can tell your story online with the non-profit service Care Opinion. Your story may appear (without your name) on their website. Care Opinion asks the health service to respond to the feedback you share, but does not reveal your identity.

This service is independent of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and the NHS. For more information about Patient Opinion and how your story is handled, visit careopinion.org.uk

Annual complaints report