Making a complaint

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. It also protects the interests of people detained under the Mental Health Act.

See the CQC website for more advice on:

• complaints about independent healthcare services,
• complaints about care homes and care services, and 
• complaining because you have been detained under the Mental Health Act.

To complain about NHS services, make your complaint directly to the GP surgery, hospital or service. Go to our How to complain page for more information. The CQC cannot take up individual complaints about the NHS. 

If you want to complain about local authority-run social care services, complain directly to the authority concerned. You can search for local authority contacts on Directgov.

If you wish to complain to the Care Quality Commission, its details are:

• Care Quality Commission, National Correspondence, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA.
• Email enquiries@cqc.org.uk.
• Telephone: 0300 061 6161.

To complain about the CQC, follow the CQC complaints procedure.

NHS foundation trusts are hospital or mental health trusts that have been given more independence about the way they're run and funded. Foundation trusts are regulated by Monitor. Monitor has powers to intervene in the running of an NHS foundation trust in order to safeguard NHS patients and services.

To complain about a foundation trust, follow the NHS complaints procedure first.

You can complain or comment about Monitor by writing to:

• Monitor: Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts, 4 Matthew Parker Street, London, SW1H 9NP.
• Or email enquiries@monitor-nhsft.gov.uk.

If you're not happy with a service provided by NHS Direct, you can complain by phone, online or by letter:

• Phone NHS Direct on 0845 4647.
• Use the NHS Direct feedback form.
• Write to The National Clinical Governance Team, Marlborough Court, Sunrise Parkway, Linford Wood East, Milton Keynes MK14 6DY.

You should receive a confirmation letter of your complaint within two working days, and NHS Direct will try to solve the issue within the following 21 days.

Blood and transplant services, the regulation of medicines, and decisions about what treatments should be used are run by organisations across the NHS nationally. If you have a complaint about these services, contact the relevant authority. For example:

The NHS Blood and Transplant Authority is responsible for the safety and supply of blood, plasma, organs and tissues across the NHS. Complaints can be addressed to:

• NHS Blood and Transplant, c/o Head of Service Quality, National Blood Service, Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5BG.
• Or email customer.services@nhsbt.nhs.uk.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines and healthcare products work and are acceptably safe. You can notify the MHRA if you suspect that you've had an adverse reaction to a drug, a blood product, or an adverse incident with a healthcare product. If you have a complaint about the work of the MHRA itself, you can write to:

• MHRA Central Complaints Officer, Room 16-107, MHRA, Market Towers, 1 Nine Elms Lane, London SW8 5NQ.
• Or fill in an MHRA complaint form online.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) produces national guidance on which drugs and treatments work, and are cost effective, as well as guidance on promoting good health. If you have a complaint about any of this guidance, read the complaints procedure for NICE. To complain about the work of NICE, write to:

• The Associate Director, Corporate Office, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, MidCity Place, 71 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NA.
• Or email: alana.christopher@nice.org.uk. 

The Department of Health aims to respond to any formal complaint within 20 working days. Visit the Department of Health's website for more information about:

• the Department of Health complaints procedure, and
• the Department of Health's Freedom of Information complaints procedure.

To file a complaint about the Department of Health:

• Web contact form
• Call the Customer Service Centre on 020 7210 4850 (open Monday to Friday, 8.30am-5pm, excluding bank holidays).
• Write to the Complaints Manager, Customer Service Centre, Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS.

A judicial review is a procedure that enables you to challenge a decision of an NHS body or the secretary of state for health on the basis that it's unlawful.

A decision might be unlawful if:

• the decision-maker does not have power to make the decision, or is using their power improperly,
• the decision is irrational,
• the procedure followed by the decision-maker was unfair or biased,
• the decision was in breach of the Human Rights Act, or
• the decision breaches European Community (EC) law.

More information is available from the Public Law Project.

Judicial review is not a form of appeal. The judge will look at how decisions are made, rather than judging the decision itself.

To be entitled to make a claim for judicial review, you must have a direct, personal interest in the action or decision being challenged. Further guidance on applying for judicial review can be found on the Justice website.