NHS / Healthcare
FULL COMPLAINT PROCESS
If your issue involves NHS treatment, GP services, hospitals, mental health services, dentistry, delayed care, safeguarding failures, poor treatment, clinical negligence concerns, medication issues, referrals, inaccurate records, or withheld medical records, the UK complaint route usually is:
Complain to the provider first (GP, hospital, trust, dentist, mental health service, private provider)
Use the formal NHS complaints process
Escalate to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) where applicable
If medical records are withheld or inaccurate → also consider the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
For negligence claims, separate legal advice may also be needed
STEP 1 — COMPLAIN TO THE PROVIDER FIRST
Examples:
- National Health Service hospital trust
- GP surgery
- NHS dentist
- mental health trust
- safeguarding team
- social prescribing service
- private consultant
- community care provider
Common complaints:
- delayed diagnosis
- refusal of treatment
- medication errors
- safeguarding failures
- poor mental health support
- discharge failures
- referral delays
- discrimination
- staff misconduct
- inaccurate medical records
- withheld records
- complaint cover-ups
Ask for:
- full complaint investigation
- clinical notes
- safeguarding records
- referral records
- consultant notes
- discharge summaries
- internal review notes
- incident reports
- complaint investigation notes
- medication history
- risk assessments
STEP 2 — PALS (Often Helpful First)
Many NHS complaints start with:
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
They help resolve issues informally.
Official NHS guidance:
NHS complaints and PALS guidance
STEP 3 — FORMAL NHS COMPLAINT
If PALS does not resolve it:
Submit a formal written complaint.
State:
- what happened
- dates involved
- professionals involved
- impact on you
- records missing
- what outcome you want
Keep copies.
STEP 4 — REQUEST YOUR RECORDS (DSAR)
Very important.
Ask for:
- full medical records
- safeguarding notes
- mental health notes
- consultant records
- complaint investigation notes
- internal emails (where applicable)
- referral history
- medication history
- risk assessments
Official ICO guidance:
ICO medical records and DSAR guidance
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/right-of-access/health-information/
STEP 5 — PHSO ESCALATION
If NHS complaint remains unresolved:
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Official route:
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Handles:
- NHS complaint failures
- serious complaint handling failures
- unresolved treatment disputes
- safeguarding failures
- poor complaint investigations
Usually after local complaint process first.
STEP 6 — ICO (IF RECORDS ARE WITHHELD)
If:
- DSAR ignored
- inaccurate records exist
- safeguarding notes are false
- complaint records missing
- unlawful data sharing occurred
Use:
ICO complaint page
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/
STEP 7 — CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE / LEGAL CLAIMS
For:
- serious avoidable harm
- negligent treatment
- surgery failures
- medication harm
- delayed cancer diagnosis
- maternity negligence
- safeguarding negligence
This is separate from complaints.
Usually legal advice needed.
VERY STRONG CASES
Especially strong if involving:
- safeguarding failures involving children
- mental health detention concerns
- false psychiatric records
- refusal of urgent care
- complaint cover-ups
- hidden clinical notes
- fabricated records
- repeated neglect
- vulnerable adult failures
POWERFUL WORDING
Good wording:
“I believe serious failures occurred in my care and important records may be withheld. I request full disclosure of clinical notes, safeguarding records, consultant notes, referral records, complaint investigation records, and all documents relied upon in decision-making.”
MAIN LINKS
NHS Complaints
PHSO
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
ICO
Information Commissioner’s Office
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