Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

We want to know what you think about the services we provide at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. We would like to know what we do well and what we could do better. We need to know your views so that we can constantly improve and raise standards in all our services.

Tell us when something went well

We want to know if we are providing a good service. If you have experienced a good service from any of our staff, please let us know. We will use this information to help improve other areas of service in our hospitals. Please email us on thankyou@royalberkshire.nhs.uk with your positive feedback and we also encourage you to let the staff know directly.

Contacting PALS

We encourage patients or relatives with concerns to speak directly to a Manager or Matron if you have concerns and they will be happy to assist you. However, if you would rather speak to someone outside of the Department or if the Department have been unable to resolve your concerns, then please contact PALS on the details below.

We believe that every concern is an opportunity for us to better understand and improve the quality of our services. We know that people can be worried about whether raising a concern will affect their care. We promise to make sure that raising concerns will never adversely affect anyone's treatment.

Our leaflet is available in:

• English
• Nepalese
• Polish
• Punjabi
• Romanian
• Urdu

It can be made available in other languages and other formats (large print or Braille) on request.

You can contact PALS directly on 0118 322 8338, by email on PALS@royalberkshire.nhs.uk, or by post to this address:

PALS
Level 2, Main Entrance
Royal Berkshire Hospital
Craven Road
Reading
RG1 5AN

Requesting a copy of your health records

If you would like to request a copy of your health records, please visit our web page dedicated to Your Information and Health Records, which explains the process.

Extra Support

If you have a learning disability or require additional support, there are organisations who can help with this, depending on which local authority you come under. If you are not sure you can check here.

Formal Complaints

If we are unable to offer you a satisfactory response to your concerns informally, you can make a formal complaint either by emailing complaints@royalberkshire.nhs.uk or by writing to the Complaints Team at the address below:

Complaints Team
Level 2, Main Entrance
Royal Berkshire Hospital
Craven Road
Reading
RG1 5AN

What can I expect from the formal complaints process?

• You should make your complaint within 12 months from when the issue occurred or from when you have become aware that an issue occurred. This enables us to thoroughly investigate your complaint.
• Please give as much information as you can, including your name, address and hospital number.
• You can ask a friend or relative to raise a complaint on your behalf. If you do, we will ask you to sign a consent form, giving us permission to disclose your personal information to this person.
• We will acknowledge your complaint either by email, telephone or in writing within 3 working days, informing you of the next steps.
• We will also keep you informed of progress, and if the investigation is going to take longer than originally thought we will explain to you the reason why.
• Once the investigation is complete, we will provide you with a written response explaining the outcome and conclusions of the investigation or we will arrange a meeting if you prefer.
• However, the formal complaints procedure cannot look at issues relating to discipline (for example whether a member of staff should be dismissed), strike a health professional off the register / suspend their registration or look at complaints about treatment provided privately unless it was paid for by the NHS.
• View the Trust's formal complaints policy.