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London Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service (IHCAS)

Do you have a complaint about the NHS?

The London Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service (IHCAS) can help if you or someone you know has not had the care or treatment you expect to receive from your NHS Services and you would like support to raise a concern about the NHS care or treatment.

An NHS Complaint might include something that happened during care or treatment provided by:

  • a hospital
  • your general practitioner (GP)
  • a dentist
  • a pharmacist
  • an optician
  • an NHS funded care home
  • specialist services
  • a paramedic or ambulance staff member
  • NHS Community staff
  • other NHS staff or clinicians

The service is free, confidential and independent of the NHS.

An Independent Health Complaints Advocate can support people in many different ways, some of these being to explore the options available to them at each step of the NHS complaints process, help them to write letters to the right people and prepare them for meetings and also attend with them if necessary.


Not everyone needs the support of an advocate to make their complaint and you may just want information on how the complaint system works or who to send a letter of complaint to.


Anyone who contacts POhWER for help with an NHS Complaint can download or be sent by email or post a free Self Help Information Pack, this includes:

  • A detailed booklet on how the complaints system works
  • Information on how to access your medical records
  • Guidance on how to put together your complaint letter.

Where to go

Our advocates are based out in the community across the Boroughs we cover, please make initial contact via the Helpline number or email address and we will arrange for an advocate to contact you.

Who to contact

Contact Name
London IHCAS Advocacy Hub
Telephone

E-mail
LondonIHCAS@pohwer.net
Website
POhWER

Other Details

Availability

Referral required
No
Other notes

The service is free, confidential and independent to the NHS and available to anyone who has a concern or complaint regarding any NHS funded services.


We provide the service within 20 London Boroughs which includes Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark.


We can help the individual to write letters, provide information to enable that person to submit the concerns themselves, attend meetings that relate to the individuals complaint.
We also have our information available in a range of formats including easy read and different languages, as well as Minicom service.