Formal Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received from us and you feel that the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can’t help, you are entitled to make a formal complaint.
A complaint can be made by a patient or person affected, or likely to be affected, by the service delivered by our Service or by someone acting on behalf of the patient or person with their written consent. You should normally complain within twelve months of the event occurring, or when you become aware that you have something to complain about. Please be assured that we will treat every comment and complaint seriously. Making a complaint will not affect your future use of the service we provide.
The easiest way to contact our patient experience team to make a complaint is to submit a ‘Contact Us’ form.
The Patient Experience Team
Trust Headquarters
West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust
Millennium Point
Waterfront Business Park
Waterfront Way
Brierley Hill
West Midlands
DY5 1LX
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0300 303 0996
For further guidance on raising a complaint with an NHS organisation please feel free to visit the NHS Choices website. You can read all of our Patient Experience Annual Report here.
To view the most recent Patient Experience Annual Report, please see the below PDF.
Patient Experience Annual Report 2022/2023 (779kB pdf)
Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service
Should you require any assistance in raising a complaint, there are several Advocacy Services covering the West Midlands area who will be able to assist you. Their service is free, independent and confidential. Please contact the appropriate service for your area.
POhWER – Telford and Wrekin
Telephone: 0300 456 2370 (Mon to Fri 8am to 6pm)
Text: Send the word ‘pohwer’ with your name and number 81025.
Address:
POhWER Advocacy,
PO Box 17943,
Birmingham,
B6 9PB
Website: www.pohwer.net
Email: [email protected]
Onside Advocacy – Worcestershire / Herefordshire
Email: [email protected]
Address:
Onside Independent Advocacy
Williamson House
14 Charles Street
Worcester
WR1 2AQ
NHS Complaints Advocacy Office – Birmingham
Text: send the word ‘pohwer’ with your name and number to 81025
Email: [email protected]
Address:
POhWER Advocacy,
PO Box 17943,
Birmingham,
B6 9PB
POhWER – Walsall and Sandwell
Telephone: Helpline Number 0300 456 2370
Text phone: Send the word ‘Pohwer’ with your name and number to 81025
Email: [email protected]
Address:
POhWER Advocacy,
PO Box 17943,
Birmingham,
B6 9PB
Voiceability Coventry
Email: [email protected]
Healthwatch Staffordshire
Text: Send the word ‘Healthwatch’ with your name and number to 60006
Email: [email protected]
Address:
Healthwatch Staffordshire NHS Complaints Advocacy Service
Suite 2, Opus House
Priestly Court
Staffordshire Technology Park
Stafford
ST18 0LQ
Healthwatch Shropshire
Email: [email protected]
Address:
Healthwatch Shropshire NHS Complaints Advocacy Service
4 The Creative Quarter
Shrewsbury Business Park
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY2 6LG
WHACS – Wolverhampton Health Advocacy Service
(delivered by Healthwatch Wolverhampton)
Contact: 0800 161 5600
Text: 07724172811
Address:
Regent House
Bath Street
Wolverhampton
WV1 4EG
Email: [email protected]
Voiceability – Warwickshire
Helpline: 0300 222 5947
Email [email protected]
Address:
VoiceAbility
Unit 1 The Old Granary
Westwick, Oakington
Cambridgeshire
CB24 3AR
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
If, after our best efforts, you are still not completely satisfied with our response, you may contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to request a review of your case. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of health service providers. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Even though the CQC cannot investigate your individual complaint, they are keen to hear about your experience. This is because they believe involving people who use services in everything they do, will help improve the service for everyone. They therefore encourage people to share information with them.
Care Quality Commission
National Correspondence
Citygate
Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4PA
By sharing your experience, they can be learning for the individual staff members concerned or in some cases Trust Wide learning here are some examples from 20129/20:
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| A patient’s non-emergency transport booking was taken incorrectly with patient notes not added. | The investigation highlighted that the system crashed causing the notes not to save. An apology offered to the contact and all staff in the control room reminder if the system crashed that they check that all patient notes have saved |
| Use of ambulance siren when leaving a hub in the night. | The investigation found the sirens were not needed and a station notice would be produced to advise staff to be considerate to residents. |
| Crew took medication for patient and other party in the property | Staff Notice that all crew to check medication if for patient only. |