Complaints Procedure

Last updated 10 July 2026

If something about your care has gone wrong, or has fallen short of what you expected, I want to hear it. A complaint is the fastest route I have to finding out what I have not noticed, and nobody is treated differently for making one.

How to complain

Speak to me directly if you can. Most concerns are resolved that day, in a conversation, and neither of us needs anything more formal than that.

If you would rather put it in writing, or if speaking to me has not resolved it, write to 10 Carnation Crescent, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 4RY or email contact@drbeningram.com. Mark it for the attention of the Complaints Manager, who is Dr Ben Ingram. Tell me what happened, when it happened, who was involved, and what you would like me to do about it.

Please complain within twelve months of the event, or within twelve months of realising there was something to complain about. I will still look at older complaints where it is reasonable to do so.

Complaining for someone else

I can only discuss a patient's care with a third party if the patient has given written consent, or if they lack the capacity to give it and you are acting in their best interests. This applies to family members. It is a confidentiality duty rather than an obstacle, and I will help you get the consent in place.

What happens next

I acknowledge every complaint in writing within three working days, and I will tell you who is investigating it and roughly how long it will take.

I aim to send you a full written response within twenty working days. If the investigation needs longer, for example because it involves another clinician or a laboratory, I will write and tell you why, and give you a revised date.

The response will set out what I found, whether anything went wrong, an apology where one is owed, and what I have changed as a result. If I got something wrong, I will say so plainly.

If you remain unhappy

Ask me to look at it again, and tell me which part of my response you disagree with. If that does not resolve it, you have the following routes.

The practice subscribes to the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service, ISCAS, which provides independent adjudication of complaints about private healthcare. You can contact them at iscas.cedr.com or on 020 7536 6091.

The Care Quality Commission regulates this practice. The CQC cannot investigate an individual complaint or get you a remedy, but it does want to know about concerns, and it uses what it hears to decide where to inspect. Contact them at cqc.org.uk or on 03000 616161.

The General Medical Council regulates me as a doctor. Where a concern is about my fitness to practise, rather than about the service, the GMC is the right body. Contact them at gmc-uk.org or on 0161 923 6602.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman does not cover privately funded care, so it is not a route open to you here.

Learning from complaints

I record every complaint, what caused it, and what changed because of it. That record is reviewed annually and forms part of my appraisal and my CQC evidence. Making a complaint will never affect the care you receive from this practice.