Tell us what you think - How to provide patient feedback
Your feedback is very important to us and we welcome all feedback, both positive and negative, to help us improve the services we provide to families.
While in hospital
Please speak to your midwife or clinician.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
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.
If you’d like to tell us about your experience, give thanks or comment on what we did well, please use the contact form.
Alternatively, you might like to publish your feedback or leave a review of our services on the NHS website.
Or you can get in touch with PALS, who are committed to:
- Helping our patients and families find answers to questions or concerns regarding their care or treatment
- Providing patients and carers with information, advice or support
- Helping to resolve concerns quickly by liaising with staff and managers
- Referring our patients and carers on to external agencies or specialist advocacy services, where appropriate.
Understanding the NHS and all its complexities can be daunting and finding answers can sometimes be difficult. Our friendly PALS team is here to help.
They’ll listen carefully to your enquiry or concern, working closely with our staff who have direct contact with patients, their families and carers to quickly resolve the issue.
Contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
The PALS team can be contacted by:
Telephone: 0161 778 5665
Email: pals@nca.nhs.uk
Calling in to one of the PALS Offices on site:
- The Royal Oldham Hospital - 09.30 hours - 16.30 hours, Monday to Friday
- Main Entrance Fairfield General Hospital – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 09-30 -16-30. Wednesday 09.30 hours to 12.00
- Main entrance Rochdale Infirmary – currently no PALS Officer on site
- Salford - currently no PALS Officer on site
Download our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) information leaflet
NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT)
After your baby’s birth you will be invited to complete the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT). You may be asked while you are still in hospital, or you may be contacted within the 48 hours of going home by text message, phone call or post.
NHS.uk
We encourage you to leave feedback at NHS.uk (formerly NHS Choices).
Maternity Surveys
We regularly ask for feedback about our services via our Maternity Survey. If you receive a copy, please take some time to tell us what you think about our services.
Rochdale and Oldham Maternity Voices Partnership
Rochdale and Oldham Maternity Voice Partnership (MVP) is a newly reformed forum for maternity service users, providers, organisations and commissioners of services to come together to design services locally that meet the needs of local women, parents, birthing people and families in the Rochdale and Oldham area. The forum is led by Healthwatch Rochdale with support from Healthwatch Oldham.
The aim of the Rochdale and Oldham MVP is to champion the voices of women, birthing people and their families in the development of maternity services across Rochdale and Oldham. They do this by representing, supporting, networking and gathering of feedback to further improve services and ensure service users voice is heard.
We encourage you to provide feedback about your experience by getting involved:
Twitter Page - @ro_mvp
Instagram Account - ro_mvp
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/OldhamMVP
Rochdale and Oldham MVP Web page - https://healthwatchrochdale.org.uk/maternity-voices-partnership
E-mail: info@romvp.org.uk
Complaints - How do I make a complaint?
The Northern Care Alliance is committed to providing a service which is patient centred and delivers excellent care. Unfortunately, sometimes things can go wrong, and, on these occasions, we welcome suggestions on how we can improve services and provide care which better reflects patient needs.
The NCA will not discriminate against any individual as a result of making a complaint. 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.
Stage one – Local Resolution: We aim to respond to all complaints within 25 working days; however, if the case is complex or involves a number of agencies then we would need a longer time to provide a detailed response. If key staff are absent from work, this too, may lead to a longer time to respond.
Stage two – Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO): If a complainant remains dissatisfied and local resolution is complete, the complainant has the right to take their complaint to the PHSO.
View our Making a Complaint Information Guide Booklet
Contact the Complaints Team
The Complaints team can be contacted by:
Telephone: 0161 656 1141
Email: office.complaints@nca.nhs.uk
In writing: Complaints Department, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Unit 7-8, Whitney Court, Southlink Business Park, Hamilton Street, Oldham, OL4 1DB.
Patient Experience - Share Your Story
Our patient experience team are keen to hear your feedback – positive or negative, so please share your story with us.
The Patient Experience Team brings together a wide variety of feedback from our patients, their relatives and carers, which we then use to improve your services.
We work with staff across the hospital to help them encourage their patients and visitors to give us valuable feedback that we can use to continuously improve.
We collect feedback in the following ways:
- comment cards
- friends and Family Test
- Picker surveys
- patient and carer forums
- letters and emails from patients, friends and relatives
- comments on websites like NHS Choices and Patient Opinion
- feedback through advocacy groups, such as local Healthwatch organisations
- If you would like to send us feedback about your experience at Northern Care Alliance, you can email: experience.patient@nca.nhs.uk
- telephone our PALS team on Telephone: 0161 778 5665 or email: pals@nca.nhs.uk
By bringing together all of this feedback we can identify areas where our procedures or services can be improved.
Contact Patient Experience
E-mail: experience.patient@nca.nhs.uk