Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is a confidential service that provides help, advice and information for patients, families and carers. It covers Salford Royal Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General Hospital.
PALS are committed to:
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listening carefully to your enquiry or concern;
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helping our patients and families find answers to questions or concerns regarding their care or treatment;
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providing patients and carers with information, advice or support;
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helping to resolve concerns quickly by liaising with staff and managers;
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referring our patients and carers on to external agencies or specialist advocacy services, where appropriate.
Useful contact numbers:
The Booking and Scheduling Department are best placed to deal with most appointments/booking concerns.
Please refer to the appropriate booking team below:
Booking and scheduling for Salford: 0161 206 4100
Switchboard for Salford: 0161 789 7373
Booking and scheduling for Oldham, Rochdale and Fairfield: 0161 778 2233
Switchboard for Oldham, Rochdale and Fairfield: 0161 624 0420
The PALS/Complaints Team are unable handle your request in obtaining a copy of your medical records; you will need to contact the health records team directly, we have provided their contact details below.
For Oldham Bury or Rochdale:
Telephone: 0161 627 8591 / 161 778 5938
Email: HealthRecords.Access@nca.nhs.uk
Website: Health Records :: Northern Care Alliance
For Salford:
Telephone: 0161 206 1130
Email: SAR@nca.nhs.uk
Website: Health Records :: Northern Care Alliance
Please visit our website should you require translation / interpretation services Interpretation & Translation Service :: Northern Care Alliance
If your query is related to concerns under mental health services, this would need to be raised directly with either Greater Manchester Mental Health or Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust. We have included their details below:
Greater Manchester Mental Health
Website: https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/customer-care
The contact details for GMMH PALS are:
Telephone: 0161 358 1687
Email: pals@gmmh.nhs.uk
The contact details for GMMH Complaints are:
Telephone: 0161 358 0600
Email: complaints@gmmh.nhs.uk
Bury, Rochdale, Oldham – Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Website: https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/
Telephone: 0161 716 3083
Email Pennine Care PALS: pals.penninecare@nhs.net /
Telephone: 0161 716 3083
Email Complaints: complaints.penninecare@nhs.net
Northern Care Alliance are unable to deal with concerns or complaints relating to General Practitioners (GPs).
You can either raise your complaint or concern direct with:
- The Practice Manager
- NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM)
The Patient Services Team at NHS GM support patients and Greater Manchester residents to find information, make enquiries and resolve any complaints they may have about local health services.
To get in touch with any patient enquiries and complaints, please use the following details:
- Email – nhsgm.patientservices@nhs.net
- Phone – 0161 271 3980, 9am-4pm Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)
- Post – NHS Greater Manchester, 4th Floor, Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BN
Northern Care Alliance are unable to deal with concerns or complaints relating to external Pharmacies.
You can either raise your complaint or concern direct with:
- The Practice Manager
- NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM)
The Patient Services Team at NHS GM support patients and Greater Manchester residents to find information, make enquiries and resolve any complaints they may have about local health services.
To get in touch with any patient enquiries and complaints, please use the following details:
- Email – nhsgm.patientservices@nhs.net
- Phone – 0161 271 3980, 9am-4pm Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)
- Post – NHS Greater Manchester, 4th Floor, Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BN
Northern Care Alliance are unable to deal with concerns or complaints relating to Dentists.
You can either raise your complaint or concern direct with:
- The Practice Manager
- NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM)
The Patient Services Team at NHS GM support patients and Greater Manchester residents to find information, make enquiries and resolve any complaints they may have about local health services.
To get in touch with any patient enquiries and complaints, please use the following details:
- Email – nhsgm.patientservices@nhs.net
- Phone – 0161 271 3980, 9am-4pm Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)
- Post – NHS Greater Manchester, 4th Floor, Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BN
Northern Care Alliance are unable to deal with concerns or complaints relating to Opticians (Optometry Services).
You can either raise your complaint or concern direct with:
- The Practice Manager
- NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM)
The Patient Services Team at NHS GM support patients and Greater Manchester residents to find information, make enquiries and resolve any complaints they may have about local health services.
To get in touch with any patient enquiries and complaints, please use the following details:
- Email – nhsgm.patientservices@nhs.net
- Phone – 0161 271 3980, 9am-4pm Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)
- Post – NHS Greater Manchester, 4th Floor, Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BN
Our friendly PALS team is here to help
Need support or advice? Contact our PALS team by the following:
Online: Submit your query or concern here
Call: 0161 778 5665 between 09:30 hours and 16:30 hours Monday to Friday
BSL only text reply: 07812 775905
Or you can write to:
PALS & Complaints Department
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
2nd Floor Horton House
Hamilton Street
Oldham
OL4 1DE
The care you receive will not be affected by speaking to PALS or raising a complaint.
What to do first
If you have a current problem or issue relating to your clinical care and treatment, you should always talk to your consultant, nurse or other staff in the ward/department/clinic. They’re the best people to help in the first instance.
If they can’t resolve the problem for you, you’re welcome to contact PALS.
PALS services include:
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providing you with information and confidential advice about the Trust, helping with any other health-related enquiry and offering the opportunity to ask any questions;
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helping you to clarify your problems and look at the options available to resolve them;
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giving you details of places where further health information can be obtained;
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providing information about the NHS complaints procedure and advice about making a formal complaint if this is necessary;
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advising you about the role of independent advocacy services and how to contact them;
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helping the Trust to improve services by listening to what matters to patients, their relatives and carers, and making changes when appropriate.
PALS cannot provide advocacy, counselling, diagnosis or medical advice.
However, they can speak on your behalf to the people that provide these services. PALS can contact clinical staff and departments to obtain information or investigate your concerns. The information or outcome will be relayed verbally by either the service teams or PALS.
PALS do not provide detailed written responses to concerns or complaints. If you wish to receive a written response, we will deal with this via our complaints procedure. Please see the complaints section below for more information.
Dealing with Complaints
The Northern Care Alliance is committed to providing a service which is patient centred and delivers excellent care. Unfortunately, sometimes things can go wrong with your care, and on these occasions, we welcome your suggestions on how we can improve services and provide care which better reflects your needs. The NCA will not discriminate against any individual as a result of making a complaint.
Who can complain?
A complainant can be a person affected or likely to be affected by the actions or decisions of an NHS organisation, providing NHS services or treatments. A complaint can also be made on behalf of a patient once their written consent has been obtained.
As many problems can be resolved by talking things over, we would suggest that in the first instance you tell the person in charge of the ward or department or the Consultant responsible for your care of your worry or problem. If they can help, they will be happy to do so.
Anyone can make a complaint about the NHS services or treatment they have received. If you are making a complaint on the behalf of someone else, written consent may be needed.
How to contact the Complaints Team
Telephone: 0161 656 1141
Text reply: 07812775905
Email: office.complaints@nca.nhs.uk
In writing:
PALS & Complaints Department
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
2nd Floor Horton House
Hamilton Street
Oldham
OL4 1DE
Policy
Complaints handling policy 2023
Annual report 2023 / 24
Annual PALS and complaints report 2022 / 23
Safeguarding
Switchboard
- Salford: 0161 789 7373
- Oldham, Rochdale and Fairfield: 0161 624 0420
Interpreters
0161 627 8770
Service.Interpretation@nca.nhs.uk
British Sign Language (BSL) - to book text 07966 003540 with your name, hospital number, venue and date.
British Sign Language
This video is for people who use British Sign Language (BSL) and provides details on what PALS do and how they can be contacted.
There is no sound.
The full transcript is available.
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