If you are unhappy with how the Mental Health Act has been used, you can make a complaint to us and we will investigate.
You can complain about the use of powers or how duties have been carried out under the Act. This includes care while:
- detained in hospital
- on a guardianship
- under a community treatment order
Complaints can be made by anyone – patients, staff or any member of the public.
Make a complaint
Phone: 03000 616161 - press ‘1’ to speak to the mental health team.
We will usually ask you to complain to the service provider before we start an investigation ourselves. If you need us to, we can help you make your complaint to the service provider.
You can ask for an independent mental health advocate to support you to make your complaint.
When we receive a complaint, we first decide whether it is a something that we can help with. If we can't help, we will tell you why not and whether anyone else might be able to help you.
After you have made a complaint
If we can investigate, we will write to tell you what will happen next. Either way, we aim to send our first reply within 5 working days.
We can handle some kinds of complaint more quickly. This could include where the people providing your care can tell us within a day how they will fix things and when. For example, making sure:
- they meet your dietary needs
- that you have access to an advocate
Give feedback on care
You can also give us feedback on care and tell us what you think about your care and treatment.
Service providers
Download our poster to display in your hospital or service.