What can I complain about?
You can complain about any poor health and social care service that:
- you get now, or
- you got in the past, or
- you did not get, but should have
The service could be poor because:
- the care, treatment or service you got was below standard, or
- of discrimination, or
- medical negligence, or
- misconduct by an health or social care employee or worker
Services standard
You have a right to high quality health and social care services. Know your rights and what the standard that services should be.
CQC – basic standards for all health and social care providers
Not being discriminated against
Discrimination’ means being treated unfairly because of something to do with a protected characteristic. ‘Protected characteristics’ are your:
- age, or
- disability, or
- gender reassignment, or
- race, or
- religious belief, or
- sex, or
- sexual orientation
Equality Advisory Service – is it discrimination?
Medical negligence
‘Negligence’ means the diagnosis or treatment you get is below accepted medical standards and it contributes to your health not getting better, or getting worse. This could be because of:
- something the doctor or care staff did, or
- something they should do, but did not do.
Medical Negligence can also be called ‘clinical negligence’, or ‘negligence’ or ‘medical error’.
MIND – guide to clinical negligence
Misconduct
‘Misconduct’ means someone employed by a health or social care service:
- has behaved badly to you or someone they are caring for while doing their job, and
- the behaviour is below the professional standard
It can be things like:
- insults, physical abuse or inappropriate touching
- being told a lie or not the whole truth, or
- managing your medical records badly
- pretending they are qualified when they are not.
Misconduct is not about treatment of a health condition. Misconduct is about how health and care providers behave towards you and the people they are caring for.
Choose 1 of the 4 options below
My problem is about: