Your experience

The views of the people who use our services are important to us. We want to know when things have gone well, but also when we don’t get things right, so we can try to improve and learn from our mistakes.

How do I thank staff and make suggestions?

We want to hear about your ideas and the good experiences you have. You can thank staff, send compliments and give us suggestions in a number of ways.

You can email PALS at est-tr.PALS@nhs.net or write to our Chief Executive at:

St Helier Hospital
Wrythe Lane
Carshalton
SM5 1AA

How do I raise a concern?

Most people are happy with the care they receive from us, but we realise that there may be times when we do not get things right. When this happens, we need to know.

Most concerns can usually be sorted out straight away by the staff caring for you or your relative or friend. If you want to talk to someone not directly involved in your care or the care of your relative or friend, you can speak to someone in our PALS Team. Find out more about the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). We also have a Complaints Team who manage any formal complaints that we receive. 

Please note: the PALS and Complaints services for Sutton Health and Care are managed by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. 

The Friends and Family Test

We are part of a nationwide initiative known as the 'Friends and Family Test' which gives us - and other NHS organisations across the country - an even greater insight into what our patients think of us.

We offer all our patients the opportunity to answer one simple question: "How likely are you to recommend our services to friends and family if they need similar care or treatment?"

You are asked to respond from a number of options from "extremely likely" to "extremely unlikely". You will also have the opportunity to tell us the main reason for the answer you give. You can find out more about the Friends and Family Test (FFT) by visiting www.nhs.uk/friendsandfamily (opens in a new window).

Responding to the Friends and Family Test

You are able to respond to the Friends and Family Test in a number of ways:

• Text message (if you would like to opt out of this service, please speak to a member of staff or reply to the message with the word 'STOP')
• Automated phone message (if you would like to opt out of this service, please speak to a member of staff)
• Feedback card
• Online. 

You can complete the Friends and Family Test here (opens in a new window).

All ratings are independently compiled. All NHS trusts are required to publish this data and you can see all the results on the NHS England website.

Your information and what you should know

It is important that we are able to ask you for your feedback, so that we can see how well we are performing, how patients rate our services, and what we may need to do to improve. 

We take our responsibility to manage your information appropriately very seriously - you can read more about the information collected about you and the ways in which this may be used in Your information and what you should know (privacy notice).