Patient and Family Experience

 

We understand that attending hospital can be a difficult and frightening experience. The Patient and Family Experience Team provides a confidential support and advice service to patients and their families, as well as helping to resolve enquiries and concerns on their behalf. This can be prior to, during or after their visit to The Walton Centre and they can be contacted in various ways including telephone, email or in person. 

We pride ourselves on working together with patients, families and carers to resolve enquiries, concerns or complaints in a timely way; explaining our actions, learning and evidencing how services will be improved as a result.

We recognise and respect that families are diverse, and a family member is not always a blood relative of a patient, but we will need the consent of patient in order for another person to raise a concern on their behalf.

We follow six key stages to ensure the patient and family journey is the best it can be. See the poster below for more information.

 

PET graphic


Staff at The Walton Centre are available to support and guide any family or friends following the loss of a loved one. We have prepared this information to help you, particularly around the formalities which can be difficult to deal with so soon following bereavement.

 

Contact us

Appointments or referrals 

If you are waiting for a hospital appointment or have been referred to The Walton Centre, please contact the Patient Access Centre on 0151 556 3213, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. They can advise you how long you might wait before being invited to book an appointment. You can also ask to be added to the cancellation list by contacting the team.

Admission - Waiting times 

If you are on the waiting list for admission, it is best to contact your Consultant's secretary directly. If they are not available to answer your call, you can leave a message, and they will return your call. They can provide the most accurate information about when you are likely to be admitted. If you do not know their direct number call switchboard on 0151 525 3611. 

Compliments 

We love to hear and share your comments and positive feedback. Compliments can be sent to wcft.patientexperienceteam@nhs.net or alternatively you can complete the form below.

Raising a concern or making a complaint

If you are unhappy with the service, care or treatment provided, you can:

  • Speak directly to staff — Talk to the ward manager, Head of Department, or Doctor in charge of your care to let them know that you are not happy, and to give them an opportunity to put things right for you.  
  • Patient Experience Team — If you prefer, you can contact the  Patient Experience Team who are available Monday- Friday, 9am - 4pm, via:
    • 0151 556 3091 / 3090 or 3093  (if lines are busy, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible)
    • wcft.patientexperienceteam@nhs.net
    • The Patient Experience Team, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool, L9 7LJ 

It is helpful to include your full name, NHS number or hospital number and date of birth.

When submitting a complaint or concern, it is important to clearly outline the specific concerns and questions that you would like the Trust to address so that a thorough and meaningful investigation can be undertaken. We fully acknowledge that individuals may feel dissatisfied, frustrated or upset about the care or service they have received, and we are committed to listening to and investigating those concerns. However, we kindly request that all correspondence, particularly when referring to members of staff, is written using respectful and appropriate language. Maintaining a professional and respectful dialogue allows concerns to be considered fairly and helps support constructive communication throughout the complaints process.

What happens next?

  • The team will review your information and aim to contact you within three working days.
  • They will advise whether your issue will be handled as an informal concern or a formal complaint.
  • An appropriate review or investigation will be carried out.
  • You will informed of the outcome, and any changes or improvements made as a result of your feedback.

Please note that NHS complaints must be submitted within 12 months of the date the care was provided, or from the date you became aware of the issue. 

Please be reassured that your care and treatment will not be affected in any way as a result of you raising a concern or making a complaint.   

 

Patient and Family Experience Form

Please complete this form:

Note: Questions marked by * are mandatory

*

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to support your complaint

 

We recognised that some patients may choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Chat GPT or Copilot when sending a concern or complaint.  While these tools can be helpful, AI- generated text can sometimes make complaints more complex than they need to be or include legal, or legislative language that is not relevant or correct.

This is likely to increase the time it takes for us to review your complaint.  In some cases, we may ask you to resubmit your information to ensure we fully understand your concerns. 

Using these tools can also provide you with unrealistic expectant time frames as we have processes and policies that we adhere to.

We want to hear about your experience in your own words, and therefore when submitting a concern or complaint, we kindly ask that you: 

  • Clearly describe the issues that you would like us to review

  • Tell us in your own words what outcome you are seeking (for example, support with an earlier appointment or an apology)

  • Use respectful language when communicating with our Patient Experience Team who are here to help and support you 

We value hearing about your experience in your own words and appreciate your cooperation in helping us provide a timely and meaningful response. 

 

Helpful tips for using AI when submitting a complaint 

When you make a complaint, it is important that you share your personal experience and how the issues affected you. Simple, clear language that explains what happened is always more helpful than complicated, formal writing.

Before using an AI tool, make sure you understand how your information will be used and protected. Avoid entering sensitive personal information unless you are confident about this. Some people find AI helpful for writing, but providers may use the information you enter to train their systems and may process it in other countries.

If you do use AI to help you write your concern or complaint, here are some suggestions to get the best results and make sure your complaint still sounds like you.

Focus your prompts on your experience and how it made you feel. A prompt is a question or instruction you give to the AI tool. See our examples of useful AI prompts below to help with your complaint. 

Do not ask AI to make your complaint sound more 'official' by adding legal arguments, formal legal language or references to laws. Any legal references it includes may be inaccurate.

Each NHS Trust follows its own policies and procedures, including those for complaint time frames.  We will inform you when we are likely to provide a response, do not include the expectation of your time frame in your complaint.
Always check AI-generated text to make sure it is accurate and reflects your own personal experience. 

Useful prompts for AI tools to help with your complaint

The following AI prompts may help you formulate your complaint.  A prompt is a question or instruction that you type into an AI tool to tell it what you want help with.

You should remove any personal information that could identify you, such as your full name or NHS number, and use placeholders instead while you are drafting the complaint, such as [the nurse] or [my advocate]. You can then add your personal details directly to the complaint form without having to share it with the AI tool.

Prompt suggestion 1:

I need to clearly explain what happened on [date] when [describe the situation]. Here are the details: [provide all the facts and circumstances including dates]. Help me organise these into a clear structure that shows what happened first, second, third and so on.

Prompt suggestion 2:

I need help organising this information about what the hospital did wrong in clear and simple language: [list all the specific issues]. Please help me put this into clear sentences. Help me express this clearly while keeping it in my own voice. Focus on the facts of what actually happened and do not make any assumptions.

Prompt suggestion 3:

Help me explain how this affected my daily life and how it made me feel. Here's what happened to me: [describe specific impacts on your health, work, family, or emotions. Explain how long problems lasted, what you couldn't do and any on-going effects]. Make sure each impact is connected to what went wrong.

Prompt suggestion 4:

Rewrite the text below as a clear, polite complaint. Use only the information I have provided. Do not add or invent new facts. Be concise and professional, but not too formal. Include a closing paragraph suggesting how I would like the complaint to be resolved.

 

Finally, AI-generated complaints may include questions that are not relevant to your experience, making your complaint more complicated. Check that each question relates to what happened to you and what you would like us to address. 

Additional questions may take longer to investigate and answer, which can delay our response. If you raise new complaint issues while the investigation is underway, the response time frame will start again.

Other ways of providing feedback  

 

You can provide feedback about the service you have received on the NHS.UK or Care Opinion websites. We always endeavour to respond to these reviews as soon as possible. You can also get in touch with us on social media, through Facebook or Twitter.

Liverpool Advocacy Hub  - You might prefer to talk to someone independent. You can get help and advice from Liverpool Advocacy Hub who will advocate on your behalf. You can contact them on: Telephone: 0300 3030 629 or email at  referral@liverpooladvocacyhub.org.uk  or visit their website at  www.liverpooladvocacyhub.org.uk