To those of you who have complained about your loved one’s lack of care in primary care, have you complained to the provider (eg the GP practice) or the commissioner (eg the integrated care board)? According to the NHS website you can only complain to one, and according to AVMA it’s better to complain to the commissioner if the relationship with the provider has broken down.
Any thoughts?
Mine is that my dad had multiple appointments, never with a GP, over 4 years because of symptoms of ischemic heart disease, and they failed to consider anything but respiratory, and he died of a cardiac arrest.
I think I’m leaning towards complaining to the commissioner, but I’m not sure whether I’d get the same level of response and detail if I do. Maybe I need to ring AVMA and get a better idea of the implications of complaining to either.
I’ve read that you should go directly to the medical centre to try and resolve it with them first, and then if it isn’t, go to the commissioner. I presume that this doesn’t apply in the event of a death, as there’s nothing that the medical centre can do to resolve the situation. Plus, apparently you can go directly to the commissioner if the relationship has broken down with the medical centre.
So I’ve decided to complain to the commissioning service.
You can find your local one here:
and then look for contact us / patient experience / complaints.
My mum was killed with hospital negligence and I was advised to write a letter of complaint to them and contact the ombudsman by a seperate person from nhs as advise
I just wanted to wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide. Please let us know how you get on.
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