Complaints Procedure

We always try to give you the best service possible, but there may be times when you feel this has not happened. 

If we fail in achieving our aim, we would like you to tell us. We believe that we can learn from complaints, so please do tell us if you are not happy about any aspect of our service. We think it is important to deal with complaints swiftly and we aim to do so. Wherever possible, we will deal with your complaint, immediately in person, or over the phone.

If this is not possible, we will investigate your complaint thoroughly. If we feel a meeting will be helpful, you will be invited to meet with us and you can bring a friend or relative with you if you wish. We will keep you informed if the meeting is likely to be delayed whilst we are investigating.

We will try to address your concern fully, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed. We hope that you will feel that we have dealt with your complaint thoroughly. However, if you are not satisfied, you will be able to take your complaint further and we will put you in contact with the people who can help you.

Our Practice Complaints Procedure is not able to deal with questions of legal liability or compensation. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into and if necessary put right any problems you have identified or mistakes that have been made. If you use our procedure, it will not affect your right to take your complaint further if you want to. 

Please contact the Practice if you have a complaint about our service. 

The quickest way to do this is to speak to a member of our Reception Team who will take brief details of your complaint and pass this information on to our Management Team who will contact you in acknowledgement of your concerns within 72 hours either by phone, in person, or in writing where possible.

Please note that we have a duty of confidentiality to our patients, so if you are complaining on someone else’s behalf, we will need that person’s permission to discuss their care with you.

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved, we will ask you to put your complaint in writing.

Please address your complaint to:

Michelle Telfer: Support Services Manager
Seaton Park Medical Group
Norham Road
Ashington
NE63 0NG

We will investigate your complaint thoroughly. We may write to you to let you know the result of our investigations. If we feel a meeting will be helpful, you will be invited to meet with us and you can bring a friend or relative with you if you wish. You can request a meeting if you want to. Where possible we will respond to you within 10 working days of receiving the complaint.