OMC Complaints Procedure
The Online Menopause Centre (OMC’s) Complaints Procedure
Information for patients
The Online Menopause Centre is committed to providing a high-quality online independent healthcare service. It is recognised that there may be occasions when patients may wish to complain about some aspect of the service. If you feel you wish to discuss an issue, or indeed make a complaint, we kindly ask that you bring this to the attention of a member of staff as soon as possible. This complaints procedure ensures that your complaint will be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Verbal Complaints
If you wish to speak to someone about an aspect of the Online Menopause Centre healthcare service, please speak to a member of staff as soon as possible, preferably during, or after, your online consultation, and we will attempt to resolve your concerns as soon as possible.
Written Complaints
Stage 1
If you are not fully satisfied, you can put your concerns in writing.
All written complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager, Mary Mohun, and emailed to: info@onlinemenopausecentre.com. Please describe as fully as you can the nature of your complaint stating:
- what you are unhappy about
- when the incident took place, and
- what staff were present at the time.
Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within 3 working days. A full investigation will be carried out and we will contact you in order to discuss and resolve the issue/s. You will receive a full written response within 20 working days of the complaint being received. If a full response cannot be given within 20 working days, we will write to you to explain the reason for the delay. You will receive a full written response within 5 days of a conclusion being reached.
Please be assured that the Online Menopause Centre (OMC) takes all complaints very seriously and following investigation, will consider making changes to the patient service.
Stage 2
If you remain dissatisfied following the final Stage 1 response, then you can request a review of your complaint by writing to:
Complaints Manager
Independent Doctors Federation
Lettsom House
11 Chandos Street
Marylebone
London W1G 9EB
Tel: 020 3696 4080
Email: info@idf.uk.net
Escalation to Stage 2 must be made in writing within six months of the final Stage 1 response.
The IDF Complaint Resolution Procedure will consider your complaint. The IDF Complaint Manager will send you an acknowledgement of your letter within three working days of receipt of your complaint and will request a summary of the matters that remain outstanding that you wish to be investigated.
You will be invited to attend a meeting at the start of Stage 2 in order to clarify the matters that remain outstanding and obtain a greater understanding of what you hope to achieve by escalating the complaint. The IDF Complaint Manager will not have been involved in the matters that led to the complaint or the handling of the complaint at Stage 1.
You will be asked to consent to release of records from the doctor. The IDF Complaint Manager will undertake a review of the documentation, any correspondence, and the handling of and response to the complaint at Stage 1. If the review is still in progress after 20 days a letter will be sent to you explaining the delay and a full response made within five days of reaching a conclusion. In any event a holding letter will be sent every 20 days where a review is continuing. The IDF Complaint Manager will write to you when the review is completed to either confirm the outcome at Stage 1 or to offer an alternative resolution.
At this time the IDF will advise you of your right to take the matter further to Stage 3 Independent External Adjudication by the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISACS).
Throughout the process all information, documents, and records relevant to your complaint will be treated in the strictest confidence and no information will be divulged to any parties who are not involved in the IDF Complaint Resolution Procedure, unless required to do so by law.
Stage 3
This stage is only available to you if you remain dissatisfied once Stage 1 and Stage 2 are exhausted and aims to bring about a final resolution of the complaint to both parties.
In such a situation you should request the adjudication by writing to the Secretariat:
Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS)
CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution), 3rd Floor
100 St. Paul’s Churchyard
London
EC4M 8BU
Tel: 020 7536 6091
Email: info@iscas.org.uk
This written request for adjudication must be made within six months of the final determination by the IDF at Stage 2. You should provide reasons to explain the dissatisfaction with the outcome of Stage 2. ISCAS will acknowledge receipt of the request within three working days.
ISCAS will seek confirmation from the IDF that Stage 2 has been completed.
ISCAS will notify the IDF of a request for Stage 3 independent external adjudication. The IDF will respond to requests from ISCAS within ten working days and confirm whether Stages 1 and 2 have been completed. ISCAS will then be your main contact once adjudication is started. You will be asked to consent to the release of records from the doctor and the IDF relevant to the complaint. ISCAS will issue the decision within 20 working days or provide a progress update every 20 working days if the decision is delayed. A report will be made to you, the doctor concerned and the IDF.
Additional information for patients about ISCAS can be found at: https://iscas.cedr.com/
Additional information for patients about the IDF can be found at: www.idf.co.uk/