The Christie Charity
At The Christie, we welcome any feedback – good or bad – about any aspect of your contact with the hospital. We need to know if we are not getting things right for you or your relative or friend, and equally we like to know when we are.
We promise we won’t think you’re a trouble-maker – we use all feedback as an opportunity to listen, learn and get things right. If you make a complaint, it will not have a negative impact on your care, you will not be discriminated against and it will not be recorded in the appropriate medical notes.
We appreciate that some people may require reasonable adjustments to support access or communication needs. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help and support you through the feedback / complaints process.
There are several ways to let us know what you think:
- You can talk to the staff you are in contact with on the reception desks, on the wards or in the department of the hospital you are visiting. Or you can ask to speak to the person in charge. If they can’t deal with this matter, they will contact someone else who can. If you would prefer to speak to someone not connected with that department, you can ask to speak to a different manager.
- You can speak to the patient advice and liaison service (PALS). PALS provides a confidential advice and support service for any patient or member of the public who has problems using Christie services. PALS aim to provide help and advice or information and resolve any concerns as quickly as possible. You can contact PALS for advice or support.
- You can fill in a Christie comment form. These forms give you the chance to say what you think needs improving – or what you particularly appreciated. They are on display around the hospital.
- You can also provide feedback to or raise concerns with the Chief Executive at the following address: The Chief Executive, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Wilmslow Road, Manchester M20 4BX.
- You can provide feedback or raise concerns via your local Christie governor.
- We regularly run different surveys throughout The Christie and you may be asked to take part in one of these. If you do not wish to be involved, please do not feel that you have to do so.
- Download our easy read information booklet on how to provide feedback.
If you would rather raise concerns through someone independent of The Christie
The details of your local independent complaints’ advocacy service are on your local authority website. Your local independent complaints advocacy service can support you in making a complaint and offer free and confidential advice. They provide a range of help, including writing letters and support at meetings.
How we will respond to your concerns
Our complaints/PALS team will contact you to discuss the concerns you have raised. We can address them in a number of ways; via a telephone call, a face-to-face meeting with the appropriate staff or a written response. It’s always easier to investigate a concern if it’s made as soon as possible after the event.
Timetable
If your concerns cannot be resolved straight away:
- We will acknowledge receipt of your concerns within 3 working days either in writing or by telephone.
- We will provide you with a full response to your concerns, within the timescale we agree with you.
- We will provide a response in a manner which we have agreed with you: by writing, by telephone or at a meeting.
- If we have a meeting with you to try to resolve your concerns, we will provide you with a recording from that meeting.
If you are not happy with our response
We always try to resolve concerns or complaints to the satisfaction of the people involved. If you are not happy with our response, we hope that you would feel able to write to us or speak with our complaints/PALS team again so that we have the opportunity to answer your questions or provide clarification.
If our final response does not satisfactorily answer your complaint, you have the right to ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to investigate your case. You can contact them using their online form available on the Ombudsman website.
They have a telephone service for anyone who needs help completing the form or any other advice about their service – 0345 015 4033 (8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday).
You can also read our 2022/2023 complaints annual report [External link].
If you have raised a complaint with us
We would like to understand your experience of raising a complaint with us. Please complete our Complaints survey [PDF, 246 KB] and return it to us so we can understand how you found the process.
You can also complete the interactive Complaints survey below.