Escalation Procedure

We take all patient complaints involving our members very seriously and aim to deal with them in a timely fashion. We aim to follow Practice procedures and recognise that our member will work within these. 

Over several years we have learned that it can be helpful to have our own process for managing incidents in order to support our members, who may be remote from the Practice and the contextual information that is often useful. 

The process we follow: 

1.    Gather initial information to share with the Member. For example: anonymised clinical records (relevant consultation notes, results, letter, including any linked/follow-up consultations), complaint letter etc.   NB: Any information received that has not been anonymised with be deleted immediately and re-requested to prevent any breaches of confidentiality. 

2.    Concurrently, The Medical Chambers Admin Team/Manager will then inform the Member & Chambers Clinical Lead of the complaint/event.  

3.    The Chambers Clinical Lead will be available to provide support to the Member throughout the process to ensure the Member is able to reflect and learn from the event and to provide pastoral support, if required.  

4.    In all cases the Member is advised to contact their indemnity organisation for advice and support. 

5.    Member to form a response to the incident with support from the Clinical Lead. 

6.    The Medical Chambers Lead will provide the response on behalf of the Member to the Practice. The Member will complete a written analysis of the incident which will form part of their appraisal. 

7.    The Member is required to discuss the complaint with their peers at The Medical Chambers meeting, within 2 months of the incident, to benchmark their practice and reflect on their learnings.  

8.    The Practice provides feedback to the Member or to Chambers regarding further progression of any complaint or any further discussion or learning points within the Practice as a result of the incident.