Complaints Policy

Our commitment

We want every patient to feel well looked after. If something hasn’t met your expectations, we want to hear about it so we can put it right and improve how we work. Making a complaint will never affect the care you receive from us.

This policy applies to Royal Wharf Aesthetics & Academy Ltd trading as Royal Wharf Clinic (company number 13353271), registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under provider ID 1-13946265194.

Who can complain

Anyone who has used or been affected by our services can complain, including patients, people who have had a consultation with us and website visitors. Someone else can complain for you, such as a family member or carer, if you give us your written consent. We need this consent to protect your confidentiality.

When to complain

Please tell us as soon as you can. We ask that complaints are made within 12 months of the event, or within 12 months of you becoming aware of the problem. We may still look into older complaints where there’s a good reason for the delay.

How to complain

You can start with a conversation. Many concerns can be sorted out quickly by speaking to your patient care advisor or any member of the team.

If you’d like to make a formal complaint, contact our management team, who handle all complaints:

• Email: info@royalwharfclinic.co.uk (please put “Complaint” in the subject line)
• Phone: 020 4513 1960
• Post: Complaints, Management team, Royal Wharf Clinic, Cape House, 1 Cunningham Avenue, London E16 2PS
• In person at the clinic

To help us investigate, please include:

• Your full name and contact details
• Your date of birth (so we can find your records)
• What happened, and when
• Who was involved, if you know
• What you’d like us to do to put it right

If you need help making a complaint, for example because of a disability or because English isn’t your first language, tell us and we’ll arrange support.

What happens next

Stage 1: Our response

1. We’ll acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and tell you who is handling it.
2. A member of our management team will investigate. This may include reviewing your records and speaking to the staff involved. If your complaint concerns clinical care, a doctor who wasn’t involved in your treatment will review it.
3. We aim to send you a full written response within 20 working days. If we need longer, we’ll tell you why and keep you updated at least every 20 working days.
4. Our response will explain what we found, apologise where we got things wrong, and set out what we’re doing to put it right. You’re welcome to meet us to talk it through.

Stage 2: Internal review

If you’re not happy with our response, write to us within 6 months of receiving it and ask for a review. A senior member of the team who wasn’t involved in your complaint will review how we handled it and reply within 20 working days.

Stage 3: Independent review

Royal Wharf Clinic isn’t currently a member of the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS). If you’re still unhappy after Stage 2, you can contact the organisations listed below or get free, independent advice from Citizens Advice. We’ll update this policy if we join an independent adjudication scheme.

If your treatment was funded by the NHS, you can instead contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman at ombudsman.org.uk or on 0345 015 4033.

Other organisations you can contact

• Care Quality Commission (CQC): The CQC regulates our clinic. It doesn’t investigate individual complaints, but it wants to hear about your experience and uses it to inform inspections. Visit cqc.org.uk or call 03000 616161.
• General Medical Council (GMC): If you’re concerned about a doctor’s fitness to practise, you can contact the GMC at gmc-uk.org.
• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): For complaints about how we’ve handled your personal data, contact ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 1113.
• Advertising Standards Authority (ASA): For concerns about our advertising, contact asa.org.uk.

Confidentiality

We handle complaints in confidence. We keep complaint records separate from your medical records, and only staff who need to see them for the investigation will do so. We keep complaint records in line with our records retention policy.

How we learn from complaints

We review every complaint to see what we can do better. We track themes, share lessons with the team and report on complaints at our clinical governance meetings. Where a complaint leads to a change, we’ll tell you what changed.

Compliments and feedback

We also love hearing what went well. Share your feedback with your patient care advisor, by email at info@royalwharfclinic.co.uk or by leaving us a review.