Other organisations to contact

The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) cannot investigate individual concerns, or concerns that relate to specific healthcare providers or staff. We also cannot resolve complaints, or act on behalf of patients or families.

Below are other organisations that may be able to help. We always suggest trying to contact your care provider in the first instance, to see if your concerns can be resolved with the people involved in your care.

Concerns about a healthcare provider

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are the independent regulator of health and social care in England. You can contact the CQC as a member of the public or as someone who works for a health or social care service. You can contact the CQC to raise concerns about a service they regulate.

Concerns about a healthcare professional

There is a range of professional regulators that cover different healthcare staff. If you have concerns about a healthcare professional’s conduct or performance you can raise this with the relevant professional regulator. Details about the different professional regulators are available on the Professional Standards Authority website.

Concerns about medicines and medical devices

The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) collects and monitors information on suspected safety concerns involving healthcare products, like side effects caused by a medicine, or adverse incidents involving medical devices. Anyone can report an issue with a medicine, vaccine, medical device (including software, apps and artificial intelligence), blood product or e-cigarette to the Yellow Card scheme.

Complaints

Complaints about NHS services

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is a free, confidential and independent service that you’ll find in most hospitals. You can speak with a PALS staff member, who’ll try to help you resolve issues informally with the hospital without the need to make a complaint.

PALS can be particularly helpful if your issue is urgent and you need action immediately, such as a problem with the treatment or care you receive while in hospital. The NHS website can help you find your local PALS team.

Integrated care board (ICB)

You can contact your local integrated care board (ICB) for complaints about primary care services (GPs, dentists, opticians or pharmacists) and secondary care, such as hospital care, mental health services, out-of-hours services, NHS 111 and community services like district nursing.

Every ICB has its own complaints procedure, which is often displayed on its website. Find contact details for your local ICB on the NHS website.

NHS England

Contact NHS England for complaints about healthcare in prison, military health services, and specialised services that support people with a range of rare and complex conditions.

Local council

Contact your local council if your complaint is about public health organisations, which provide services that prevent disease, promote health and prolong life. You can find your local council on the GOV.UK website.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

PHSO can make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS in England. They can only do this if you have already complained to the organisation involved in your concern.

Complaints about adult social care services

If you’re unhappy with an adult social care service, care home or home care, you may want to speak to the care provider first. Each provider has its own complaints process.

If your care is funded or arranged by your local authority, you can raise your concerns directly with the authority’s safeguarding or complaints team. In the case of somebody who is resident in a care home, the local authority to contact is the one that covers the person’s address prior to entering the care home. If you're not sure which local authority to contact, you can check on the GOV.UK website.

If you make a complaint and receive an unsatisfactory response, you can refer the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The Ombudsman makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about social care in England.

Complaints about use of the Mental Health Act

If you wish to make a complaint about a mental health service, you should either contact the service provider or the commissioner (who pays for the service). The commissioner is usually your local integrated care board (ICB).

If you wish to complain about the use of the Mental Health Act on someone detained in hospital, or put on a guardianship, or under a community treatment order, complain to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Complaints about prison healthcare

In the case of a healthcare concern involving a prisoner, you should contact the prison’s safer custody team in the first instance (or, if it is an emergency, the orderly officer). Contact details for the safer custody team at your prison can be found on the Prisoners' Families Helpline website.

If you wish to make a complaint about prison healthcare provision, you can direct it to the prison’s healthcare team or to NHS England.

Complaints about data use

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator for data protection and information rights. You can contact the ICO if you want to raise concerns or complaints about how personal data has been used, need guidance on data protection compliance, raise issues related to Freedom of Information requests, or want to report data breaches or nuisance calls and messages.

Outside England

We investigate patient safety concerns across the NHS in England and in independent healthcare settings where safety learning could also help to improve NHS care.

This means we are unable to investigate concerns arising in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Wales

In the first instance, you should contact the relevant NHS Wales health board or trust with your concerns. If you reach the end of the local complaints process and are not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer the matter to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The Ombudsman is independent of NHS Wales and can make a final decision about an unresolved complaint against it.

Scotland

In the first instance, you should contact the relevant NHS Scotland healthcare provider or commissioner. If you reach the end of the local complaints process and are not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer the matter to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent of NHS Scotland and can make a final decision about an unresolved complaint against it.

Northern Ireland

In the first instance, you should contact the relevant Health and Social Care (HSC) provider or commissioner. If you reach the end of the local complaints process and are not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer the matter to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent of HSC and can make a final decision about an unresolved complaint.