How to make a complaint

The Trust welcomes complaints as a way of learning from people’s experiences and improving our services.

If we haven’t been able to resolve your concerns locally or through PALS, then you may wish to make a formal complaint. We welcome complaints as a way of learning from people’s experiences and improving our services.

The PALS team can give you help, advice and support in making a complaint. Also, they can put you in contact with local advocacy services if you feel you need some support to make your complaint.

As a Trust, we take complaints very seriously. All complaints are treated in confidence. We aim to resolve complaints quickly and fairly and will try to rectify any mistake or misunderstanding straight away.

  • It is helpful if you make a complaint as soon as possible. Usually we will investigate complaints that are:
  • made within 12 months of the event, or
  • made within 12 months of you realising you were unhappy about a specific situation or event
  • Complaints are not kept in healthcare records and will not affect on-going or future treatment in any way.

Contact Information

PALS Office
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Room 11
Banham House
Bodmin Hospital
PL31 2QT
Telephone :
01208 834620

Email: cpn-tr.Palscft@nhs.net

What happens when you make a complaint?

  • We will try to contact you to talk to you about your complaint, or we will write to you and ask you to contact us so we can talk about the issues raised – this usually occurs within 3 working days
  • If you are raising concerns on behalf of someone who has received care from us, then we will need to ask their permission to share with you any confidential and personal information
  • We will discuss how you wish us to handle your complaint
  • We will discuss how long it is likely to take in order to investigate and respond to the issues you have raised
  • If the issues also involve another local NHS organisation or Local Authority, with your permission, we will work together to provide you with one response
  • We will provide you with an explanation of the points you have raised, details of what we have found out and, if required, what we will be doing to put things right

What if I am still unhappy?

If you feel that you need support in making your complaint, then you can contact SEAP, the independent complaints advocacy service who will be able to help you. SEAP can be contacted on:
0300 343 5706

You can also email them at: Cornwall@seap.org.uk

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review this matter. The Ombudsman will only consider complaints that have already been investigated by the Trust. You can contact the PHSO by contacting their complaints helpline on: 0345 015 4033 or visiting their website: www.ombudsman.org.uk