Feedback & Complaints Resolution Policy

Support at Medbelle (SaM)

At Medbelle, creating a smooth, hassle-free and supportive journey for our patients is what matters to us most. We continually strive to improve our service and welcome your feedback so we can better enhance what we do for you and all of our patients. If you have something to share with us, good or bad, we want to hear it.

Our Promise

At Medbelle, we are dedicated to providing each patient with the highest standard of care and support but we also recognise that there is always room for improvement and we want to learn from every patient journey, so, our promise to you is to:

• Listen carefully to your feedback and concerns with the aim of resolving any issues as swiftly as possible.
• Use what you’ve told us as an opportunity to review our processes, identify any areas of improvement and rectify any underlying issues that could negatively impact our patients.
• Offer an apology. We don’t want anyone to feel their experience with Medbelle was not positive, so if we’ve made a mistake we will always offer you an apology.

Your Feedback Matters

At Medbelle, we not only want to provide you with a smooth and personalised service and excellent overall care but we are also actively committed to improving surgical outcomes for our patients over time. We do this in several ways:

1. Outcome data: One of our aims as a healthcare provider is to actively work towards improving outcomes for patients. This all starts with collecting data through medical questionnaires. In healthcare, this is already widely in place for Orthopedic treatments in the form of PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcome Measures) questionnaires.
2. Net Promoter Score: This allows us to measure your satisfaction with your overall experience as well as highlighting any specific feedback that patients wish to highlight.
3. TrustPilot and/or Google Reviews: This allows patients to share their feelings about their experience on independent platforms. We, of course, analyse and take on all patient feedback to improve our service in any way we can.
4. Feedback and Complaints Process: as outlined below, we have a well-structured process that allows all patients to raise any feedback or concerns that they have so that we can manage them appropriately.

We will respond to any concerns considerately, quickly and as effectively as possible. All comments, concerns and complaints are taken seriously, regardless of their nature: medical or administrative.

Any concern/complaint that we receive is treated in confidence. We promise to investigate all concerns/complaints with courtesy and sympathy and to provide a response within the timeframes outlined below (which are nationally recognised timelines).

The Feedback and Complaints Process

All patients please be aware that your feedback/concern must be managed through each step consecutively starting with step 1.

Step One: Talk to us

Where things need to be improved, you can contact your Patient Care Adviser (PCA) using their direct phone number, via email or WhatsApp at any time. We encourage all our patients to firstly contact their PCA with any feedback, questions or concerns they may have. We would advise you to do this at the earliest opportunity, as most issues can be resolved quickly and within a few days. You can do this at any time from the beginning of your journey with us until six months from the point that there is a problem.

You are also welcome to call our general line on 020 3411 9171. You can ask to speak to your PCA or if they are not available, another member of the care team will be happy to help.

Step Two: A Formal Written Review

If a resolution to your feedback/concern was not reached in Step 1 and you wish to proceed to Step 2, then you will be asked to submit your concern by filling out the Feedback and Complaints form and progress to Step 2.

At this stage, your feedback/concern will be investigated further by the Patient Experience and Complaints Manager (PECM). The PECM will undertake an immediate review of the case so far and will work on reaching a resolution.

What is the exact process to follow in this case:

1. Submit your feedback by completing the “Feedback and Complaints Form” found here: The feedback/concern should be made as soon as possible and within 6 months of the date of the event/unsatisfactory response from the PCA/Team Lead (TL).
   
2. Medbelle will acknowledge receipt of your feedback/concern within 3 business days by responding directly by email.
   
3. If the feedback/concern is related to:
   1. an internal issue at Medbelle: PECM will investigate your feedback/concern by reviewing all relevant records and logged communications.
   2. a clinical or administrative issue at a hospital or a surgeon Medbelle is partnering with: We will liaise with the concerned hospital/surgeon and we'll provide you with the clinical/hospital feedback once we receive it.
      
      In some cases, if you continue to be unsatisfied with the results/outcome of surgery, we might discuss arranging a second opinion with another surgeon to assess the results of surgery.
      
4. Medbelle will respond to your feedback/concern by email within 20 business days. We will offer either an apology and resolution or will propose a course of action to work towards a resolution. If an investigation takes longer than 20 days we will update you and provide an anticipated timeframe.
   
   
   

Code of Conduct and Behaviour - Medbelle’s Policy

Although Medbelle staff is trained to respond with patience and empathy to the needs of all complainants, there can be times when there is nothing further that can reasonably be done to assist them or rectify a real or perceived problem.

On rare occasions, complainants may act inappropriately towards the staff involved in the investigation of a complaint. Below is the policy Medbelle adopts to make sure complainants adhere to appropriate, non-abusive conduct at all times when communicating with Medbelle staff.

Examples of difficult behaviour include (but are not limited to):

1. Persistent refusal to accept a decision made about a complaint and that the complaints process has been fully and properly implemented and exhausted.
2. Seeking to prolong contact by changing the substance of a complaint or persistently raising the same or new issues with multiple members of staff not involved in the investigation of the complaint and questions whilst the complaint is already being addressed.
3. Unwillingness to accept documented evidence of treatment given as being factual from the surgeon/hospital e.g. drug records, medical records, nursing notes.
4. Denying receipt of an adequate response despite evidence of correspondence specifically answering questions.
5. Refusing to accept that facts can sometimes be difficult to verify when a long period has elapsed.
6. Demanding a complaint be investigated but insisting to keep the complainant's identity anonymous and/or refusing to communicate with key persons involved in the complaints incident.
7. Refusing to identify the precise issues which the complainant wishes to be investigated, despite reasonable efforts by staff to help him/her specify their concerns, or where the concerns identified are not within the scope of the service to investigate.
8. Focusing on a trivial matter to an extent that is out of proportion to its significance and continuing to focus on this point.
9. Having, while a complaint has been registered, an excessive number of contacts with the service, placing unreasonable demands on staff, including leaving an excessive number of voicemails or emails or demanding phone calls at any given time.
10. Recording meetings or face-to-face/telephone conversations without the prior knowledge and consent of the other parties involved.
11. Making unreasonable demands or expectations and failing to accept that these may be unreasonable (e.g. insisting on responses to complaints or inquiries being provided more urgently than is reasonable or normal recognised practice and refusing to engage with and meet/speak directly with the Medbelle or hospital staff, thereby limiting our ability to resolve issues raised).
12. Threatening or using actual physical violence towards staff or their families or associates at any time - this will in itself cause personal contact with the complainant or his/her representatives to be discontinued and the complaint will, thereafter, only be pursued through written communication.
13. Harassing or being abusive or verbally aggressive on more than one occasion towards staff dealing with the complaint or their families or associates, including the use of social media i.e. seeking to contact staff involved outside of the working environment or obtaining personal information via social media channels to intimidate staff.

Medbelle’s Response Policy

If any of the above unacceptable behaviour is demonstrated by the complainant then the below actions will be taken by Medbelle:

1. Where a complaint investigation is ongoing - the Patient Experience and Complaints Manager (PECM) will write to the complainant to set parameters as per the code of behaviour. If these terms are contravened, the complaint investigation may be placed on hold and consideration may be taken to implement other actions until safe and amenable conditions under which the investigation can proceed are re-established.
2. Where a complaint investigation is complete - at an appropriate stage, the PECM will write a letter/email informing the complainant that:
   1. we have responded fully to the points raised, and
   2. have tried to resolve the complaint, and
   3. there is nothing more that can be added, therefore, the correspondence is now at an end.
   4. state that future emails/letters will be acknowledged but not answered.
3. In extreme cases, Medbelle reserves the right to cease and terminate the patient’s contract if they or any other related person engage in abusive, obscene, deceptive or fraudulent behaviour in either verbal and/or written communication with Medbelle staff. Medbelle also reserves the right to take legal action against the complainant when deemed necessary.
4. Resuming regular interactions - Once complainants have ceased the concerned behaviour, and the PECM deems that safe and amenable conditions have been reestablished, the investigation and communication as per the code of behaviour may resume.
   

At Medbelle we use discretion in identifying “difficult” behaviour, discretion will similarly be used when recommending that the concerned behaviour has ceased.