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Complaints Procedure

Our Commitment to You

At Coventry Osteopathic & Sports Injury Clinic, we are committed to providing a high standard of care and service to every patient.

We welcome all feedback, both positive and negative, as it helps us improve.

If something has not met your expectations, we want to hear from you. We treat all complaints seriously, handle them confidentially, and aim to resolve them fairly and promptly.

Making a complaint will not affect the care or treatment you receive from us, now or in the future.

What You Can Complain About

You may raise a complaint about any aspect of your experience with us, including:

  • The standard of clinical treatment or care you received

  • The conduct or behaviour of any member of our team

  • Waiting times or appointment management

  • How your personal data has been handled

  • The standard of our facilities or premises

  • Communication or administrative issues

  • Billing or fee-related concerns

  • Any other matter relating to your experience at the clinic

Data Protection Complaints

If your complaint relates specifically to how your personal data has been collected, used, stored, shared or otherwise handled, we will treat it as a data protection complaint.

Data protection complaints may include concerns about:

  • Confidentiality

  • Access to your records

  • Inaccurate personal information

  • Use of your contact details

  • Marketing communications

  • Data sharing

  • Retention or deletion of records

  • The security of your information

  • A suspected data breach

A complaint does not need to use the words “data protection complaint” for us to treat it as one.

We will acknowledge data protection complaints within 30 days and will investigate and respond without undue delay. Where possible, we aim to acknowledge and respond sooner.

If your complaint includes both a patient care issue and a data protection issue, we may deal with these together. However, if the data protection part can be answered sooner, we will not delay that response unnecessarily.

If you are not satisfied with our response to a data protection complaint, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Who Can Make a Complaint

The following people may submit a complaint:

  • Current or former patients of the clinic

  • A person acting on behalf of a patient, such as a parent or legal guardian of a child

  • Someone with written authority to act on behalf of another patient

  • A representative of a deceased patient, where appropriate

Where someone complains on behalf of another person, we may need evidence of their authority to act before sharing any personal or clinical information.

How to Make a Complaint

We encourage you to raise concerns as soon as possible, while details are fresh.

You may complain in the following ways:

In Person

Speak directly with any member of staff or ask to speak with the Clinic Principal, Wendy Cook. We will do our best to resolve informal concerns immediately where appropriate.

By Telephone

Call us on 02476 501923 during normal working hours to speak with a member of the team.

In Writing

Write to us at:

Coventry Osteopathic & Sports Injury Clinic
312A Charter Avenue
Coventry
CV4 8DA

By Email

Send your complaint to:

info@coventryosteopaths.co.uk

Please mark written complaints clearly as “Formal Complaint” or “Data Protection Complaint” where possible, so they are directed to the right person promptly.

What to Include in Your Complaint

To help us investigate and respond as effectively as possible, please include:

  • Your full name and contact details

  • A clear description of the issue and when it occurred

  • Any relevant dates, names of staff or practitioners involved, or documentation

  • Whether your complaint relates to care, treatment, service, fees, personal data, or another matter

  • What outcome or resolution you are seeking

Timeframes: What to Expect

We are committed to handling complaints promptly.

For general complaints, we aim to follow these timescales:

  • Acknowledgement of your complaint: within 3 working days of receipt

  • Full investigation underway: within 5 working days

  • Full written response provided: within 28 calendar days

For data protection complaints, we will acknowledge receipt within 30 days and respond without undue delay.

Where possible, we aim to deal with data protection complaints within our usual 28-day complaints timeframe.

If we are unable to provide a full response within the expected timeframe, for example because the investigation is complex, we will write to you to explain the delay and give you a revised timescale.

Our Complaints Process

Step 1: Receipt and Acknowledgement

When we receive your complaint, we will acknowledge it and confirm the name of the person handling your complaint.

For general complaints, we aim to acknowledge receipt within 3 working days.

For data protection complaints, we will acknowledge receipt within 30 days, although we aim to do this sooner wherever possible.

Step 2: Investigation

The Clinic Principal, Wendy Cook, will oversee the investigation of formal complaints.

This may involve:

  • Reviewing relevant clinical records, correspondence and documentation

  • Reviewing appointment, payment or administrative records

  • Speaking with any members of staff or practitioners involved

  • Checking whether the complaint includes a data protection issue

  • Contacting third-party providers where necessary

  • Considering the facts carefully and impartially

Only those who need to be involved in investigating and resolving the complaint will have access to relevant information.

Step 3: Response

We will provide a written response once the complaint has been investigated.

Our response will:

  • Acknowledge the complaint

  • Explain our findings clearly

  • Say whether the complaint is upheld, partly upheld or not upheld

  • Apologise where appropriate

  • Set out any actions we are taking as a result

  • Explain what you can do if you remain dissatisfied

Step 4: Resolution and Learning

Where a complaint identifies a genuine shortcoming, we will take appropriate steps to improve our service.

We review complaints to identify patterns and opportunities to improve patient care, communication, administration and data protection practices.

If You Are Not Satisfied With Our Response

We hope to resolve all complaints directly and to your satisfaction.

However, if you remain dissatisfied after receiving our response, you may be able to contact one of the following external bodies, depending on the nature of your complaint.

The General Osteopathic Council

The General Osteopathic Council is the statutory regulator for osteopaths in the UK.

If your complaint relates to the professional conduct or fitness to practise of one of our osteopaths, you can refer your concern to them.

Website: www.osteopathy.org.uk
Email: fitness.to.practise@osteopathy.org.uk
Phone: 020 7357 6655
Address: General Osteopathic Council, 176 Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1 3LU

The Information Commissioner’s Office

If your complaint relates to how your personal data has been handled, and you are not satisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Website: www.ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

The Care Quality Commission

If your complaint relates to a service that is regulated by the Care Quality Commission, or you have serious concerns about the safety or quality of regulated care provided, you may contact the CQC.

Website: www.cqc.org.uk
Phone: 03000 616161

NHS England / PALS

If your treatment was funded by the NHS, you may also contact NHS England or the Patient Advice and Liaison Service at your local NHS Trust.

Confidentiality

All complaints are handled in confidence.

Information about your complaint will only be shared with those directly involved in investigating and resolving it, or where disclosure is required by law, regulation, safeguarding obligations, professional standards or insurance requirements.

Records of complaints are stored securely.

We will not make any note of a complaint in your clinical records unless it is directly relevant to your care and treatment.

Time Limits for Making a Complaint

We ask that complaints are raised within 12 months of the incident occurring, or within 12 months of you becoming aware of the issue.

This helps us investigate effectively while records and memories are reliable.

In exceptional circumstances, we may accept complaints outside this timeframe at our discretion, particularly where there is good reason for the delay.

Compliments and Feedback

We also welcome positive feedback and compliments.

If a member of our team has gone above and beyond, please let us know.

You can leave feedback:

Monitoring and Review

We keep a record of formal complaints received, including outcomes and any actions taken.

Complaint records are reviewed regularly by the Clinic Principal to identify trends and drive improvement.

This Complaints Procedure is reviewed annually and updated where necessary to reflect changes in legislation, regulatory guidance or best practice.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this procedure, or wish to make a complaint, please contact us:

Clinic Principal: Wendy Cook
Phone: 02476 501923
Email: info@coventryosteopaths.co.uk
Address: Coventry Osteopathic & Sports Injury Clinic, 312A Charter Avenue, Coventry, CV4 8DA

This Complaints Procedure was last reviewed in June 2026 and is intended to reflect UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, current ICO guidance, and the General Osteopathic Council Standards of Osteopathic Practice.

This document provides general guidance for patients of Coventry Osteopathic & Sports Injury Clinic. It does not constitute legal advice.

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