Make a complaint
Tell us if something has not been right
At The Women’s Health Clinic, we aim to protect, comply and serve by following best-practice complaints handling principles.
If you feel that your experience, care, communication or service has fallen below the standard you expected, we want to hear from you. Complaints help us understand what happened, respond properly and improve where needed.
Raising a complaint will not affect your ongoing care. We will handle your concern respectfully, sensitively and as fairly as possible.
7 days
We aim to contact you within 7 days
28 days
Stage 1 investigation response target
ID
Formal complaints receive a unique reference
We take complaints seriously
We aim to acknowledge concerns quickly, listen carefully, investigate fairly and use learning to improve our services.
We listen
We seek to understand your experience from your perspective.
We investigate
Formal complaints are reviewed with structure, scope and records.
We respond
We aim to explain findings clearly and fairly.
We improve
We use lessons learned to reduce the risk of recurrence.
Complaint ownership
Director of Patient Relations
Complaints are automatically delivered to the Director of Patient Relations so that concerns are handled with senior oversight.
If your concern is urgent and relates to immediate health or safety, please seek appropriate urgent medical help rather than waiting for the complaints process.
Protecting, complying and serving
Our complaints approach is built around clear principles: listening, accountability, fairness, remedy and continuous improvement.
Getting it right
Quickly acknowledging and putting right maladministration or poor service that may have led to unfairness, while considering all relevant factors.
Being customer focused
Apologising where appropriate, explaining clearly, managing expectations and dealing with people professionally and sensitively.
Being open and accountable
Being clear about how to complain, giving reasons for decisions and keeping accurate records.
Acting fairly and proportionately
Seeking fair and proportionate outcomes without bias or discrimination.
Putting things right
Considering remedies such as apology, explanation, remedial action or other appropriate outcomes.
Seeking continuous improvement
Using lessons learned to reduce recurrence and recording outcomes to improve our services.
Our 7 complaint handling steps
How we handle complaints
We follow a structured process designed to listen, investigate, respond and learn.
01 Empathise +
We approach the situation from the complainant’s perspective. This may include reassuring you that ongoing treatment will not be affected, acknowledging the impact of the events complained about, and expressing sympathy where appropriate.
02 Listen +
We seek to understand your experience from your point of view. Where helpful, we may offer a meeting or conversation to clarify the key concerns, explore early resolution and build trust.
03 Investigate +
Where a formal investigation is required, we aim to begin promptly, define the scope, gather relevant input and keep a clear documentary record. Clinical input may be requested where relevant.
04 Reflect +
We consider what the evidence shows, whether further steps are needed, what aspects of the complaint should be upheld, and what can be learned to prevent the same issue happening again.
05 Respond +
We aim to respond within the stated timeframe or explain why more time is needed. A response should explain what was found, whether the complaint is upheld, and what steps may be taken.
06 Remedy +
Remedies may include an apology, explanation, remedial action, reassurance about future changes or another proportionate response. Any apology should be clear and meaningful.
07 Act +
We aim to ensure that learning is acted upon. This includes describing what action has been taken, or will be taken, to reduce the risk of similar issues arising again.
What happens after you complain?
We aim to resolve concerns quickly where possible. If a concern becomes a formal complaint, we create a complaint record and follow a structured investigation pathway.
Ownership
Complaints are automatically delivered to the Director of Patient Relations for senior oversight.
Within 7 days
Within 7 days of receiving your complaint, we aim to contact you and listen to your concern.
Quick resolution
In many cases, we are able to resolve issues without escalating the matter as a formal complaint.
Unique complaint ID
Where a complaint becomes formal, a complaint ticket is created on our compliance portal. An acknowledgement letter with a unique reference number is sent within 7 days of the complaint ticket being created.
28-day Stage 1 response
We then carry out a Stage 1 investigation and aim to respond within 28 days of the formal complaint acknowledgement letter that contains your unique reference number.
Stage 2 escalation
If you are not happy with the Stage 1 outcome, you may request escalation to a Stage 2 investigation, where the matter goes directly to the Director of Finance.
Contact us
How to make a complaint
You can raise a complaint by email, phone or post. Please include as much relevant detail as you feel comfortable sharing so that we can understand and review your concern.
Email is often the clearest way to send details, dates, names and supporting information.
[email protected]Phone
You can call us if you would prefer to speak to someone about how to raise your concern.
+44 0800 488 0909Post
London:
3 Warwick Road
London E15 4JZ
London:
Registered office
3 Warwick Road
London E15 4JZ
When writing to us, it may help to include:
Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information unless it is relevant to your complaint.
