Where a complaint involves more than one NHS Trust

Where a complaint involves more than one NHS Trust, or one or more other bodies such as a local authority, these bodies are required to cooperate fully in seeking to resolve the complaint through each body’s local complaints procedure. NHS bodies and local authorities will need to ensure that, between them, they address all matters of concern to the complainant.

Options are that

• each Trust deals with the complaint separately and responds individually to the parts of the complaint that concern them
• one Trust will take the lead and co-ordinate a response so that the complainant receives one full written response answering all of their concerns and ensuring one point of contact for the complainant.

In this instance the complainant can, with the support of the ICAS advocate

• send the same letter, containing all of the grievances, to all of the Trusts concerned
  or as is more usual practice
• separate out the appropriate complaints and address them to the appropriate single Trust.

There are advantages/disadvantages to both styles of approach.

See: Where a complaint involves more than one NHS Trust In the regulations section

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