Healthwatch
If you have any feedback or concerns on health, public health or social care services, these can be shared with Healthwatch Warwickshire.
Healthwatch will collect this information and use it to inform future service improvements.
Complaints about the public health functions of local authorities
Public health complaints are handled in line with the NHS Bodies and Local Authorities (Partnership Arrangements, Care Trusts, Public Health and Local Healthwatch) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/ 3094).
What is public health?
Public health is about improving and protecting the health of groups of people, rather than about treating individual patients. It is about helping people to stay healthy and avoid becoming ill.
We commission services across a range of policy areas, including:
- sexual health
- health checks
- weight management and physical activity
- drugs and alcohol
- smoking cessation
- breastfeeding
- children’s health (five to 19 year-olds)
- mental health and wellbeing
- health advocacy
We are not responsible for providing health services to individuals – for example through hospitals. Complaints concerning these services should be directed to the clinical commissioning groups or to Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for your hospital or service provider.
What to do if you have a complaint about public health services
You should talk directly to the provider of the services about which you have concerns. They will have a complaints procedure which you can use to make sure your concerns are heard.
If you come to us first we will ask your permission to pass your complaint to the appropriate service provider if you are not complaining about a service provided directly by Warwickshire County Council.
If you feel unable to contact your service provider or you are dissatisfied with their response, you can complain directly to us using the public health service complaints procedure.
How we will deal with your complaint
The legislation challenges us to resolve complaints speedily and efficiently and to keep you informed, as far as is reasonably practicable, as to the progress of the investigation.
We will acknowledge the complaint not later than three working days after the day on which we receive it and will offer to discuss with you how the complaint will be handled and how long this may take.
The complaint must be made not later than 12 months from the incident occurring, or of the incident coming to the attention of the customer. The complaint must be acknowledged within three working days of it being received and a meeting offered to discuss how it is to be handled and how long a response is likely to take.
The complaint process must be completed within six months of the complaint being received and a report sent which explains how the complaint has been considered and the conclusions reached. Hopefully, most issues can be resolved much more quickly.
If an outcome cannot be reached in six months we will tell you and aim to complete the investigation as soon as possible.
What to do if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive when the report of the investigation into your complaint is completed you may take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).
Call us
- You can call us on 0300 0610614 for help making a complaint.
- Calls to 03 numbers will cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01 or 02) from both mobiles and landlines and will be included as part of any inclusive call minutes or discount schemes in the same way as geographic calls.
- Text ‘call back’ to 0762 481 1595. You may be charged by your provider for sending the text message.
- Use a textphone via the Next Generation Text Service (formerly known as Text Relay and Typetalk)
Lines are open:
- Monday – 8.30am to 12 noon
- Tuesday to Friday – 8.30am to 5pm
Calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes.
Online
If you have a complaint, please use the complaint form.