# Complaints policy
We want every appointment to be a good one. When something falls short, we want to know — quickly, so we can put it right.
This policy applies to FastTrack GP, operated by **Healthwatch Limited** (Company No. 06997189). It is consistent with our regulatory duty under the **Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014** and our duty of candour under regulation 20.
## Who handles complaints
**Dr Amanda Northridge — Complaints Lead and Registered Manager.** Email [info@mayfieldclinic.co.uk](mailto:info@mayfieldclinic.co.uk), or write in confidence to:
> Dr Amanda Northridge, Complaints Lead
> Healthwatch Limited (FastTrack GP)
> 3rd Floor, Mayfield House
> 256 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DE
## How to complain
You can complain by email, by letter, or by phone. If a friend or relative is complaining on your behalf we will need your written authority before we can share clinical information with them.
You can complain about anything to do with your care or our service: a clinical decision, communication, the booking flow, the way you were treated, fees, or accessibility.
## Our timelines
- **Acknowledgement:** within **5 working days** of receipt.
- **Full response:** within **14 working days** of acknowledgement (and never more than 6 months from receipt). Where the investigation needs longer — for example, because we are awaiting input from a clinician on leave — we will tell you, give a reason, and agree a new date.
A full response will set out: what we found, why it happened, what we are doing about it, and (where relevant) what we are putting in place so it doesn't happen again.
## What you should expect from us
- A genuine and honest investigation, including review by a clinician who was not involved in the original episode.
- Compliance with the **duty of candour** — if something has gone wrong we will tell you, apologise, and explain.
- No detriment to your future care for raising a concern.
## If you are not satisfied — external escalation
If our response doesn't resolve things, you can escalate to one of the bodies below. You don't have to use us first for the **CQC** route — they accept complaints directly.
**Care Quality Commission (CQC) — for concerns about service safety and quality:**
> CQC National Customer Service Centre
> Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA
> 03000 616161 — [cqc.org.uk](https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-223402992)
**Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS) — independent adjudication on private healthcare complaints we cannot resolve:**
> ISCAS, 70 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1EU
> 020 7536 6091 — [iscas.cedr.com](https://iscas.cedr.com)
**Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) — for complaints involving NHS-funded elements (rare for FastTrack):**
> Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
> 0345 015 4033 — [ombudsman.org.uk](https://www.ombudsman.org.uk)
For complaints about how we handled your **personal data**, you can complain to the **Information Commissioner's Office** at [ico.org.uk/concerns](https://ico.org.uk/concerns).
For concerns about an individual doctor's fitness to practise, contact the **General Medical Council** at [gmc-uk.org](https://www.gmc-uk.org).
## Learning from complaints
We log every complaint, review themes quarterly, and feed lessons learned into our clinical governance meetings and staff training. Anonymised summary data is reported to the Care Quality Commission as part of our annual return.
_Last reviewed: 28 April 2026._