Our ref: DE00000442365
Dear Mr Oakley,
Thank you for your further email of 4 September to the Department of Health about your dissatisfaction with the service you have received from your local NHS. I have been asked to reply.
I am sorry to read that you are not happy with the service provided by the NHS.
You explain that you do not believe that your local health services have provided care in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s (NICE’s) clinical guidelines on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalopathy.
As you no doubt know, clinical guidelines are recommendations by NICE on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases or conditions within the NHS. Clinical guidelines are intended to assist health professionals in making decisions about the most appropriate care for specific clinical circumstances. Whilst health professionals are encouraged to use clinical guidelines to assist them in making clinical decisions, this does not override their individual responsibility to exercise their clinical judgement, in consultation with the patient and informed by their medical history.
I am afraid that the Department cannot comment on clinical decisions made by doctors, nor does it investigate specific complaints. However, the Department of Health acknowledges that sometimes people will be unhappy with the treatment that they or their relatives receive and has, therefore, established a complaints procedure for the NHS to resolve concerns and to help local NHS organisations learn from the experiences of their patients. The complaints procedure is designed to help any patient, relative, or carer to raise their concerns about NHS services.
All organisations delivering NHS care recognise that they owe a duty of care to any patient they treat and that because of this, issues and concerns are best resolved by the local organisation or organisations concerned. For this reason, the first stage in the official complaints process is to raise the matter locally.
Further information can be found on the NHS Choices website at:
If you raise a complaint, but are not happy with the organisation’s response, you may request an independent review by the Health Service Ombudsman. I should emphasise that the Health Service Ombudsman is completely independent of the NHS, the Government and the Department of Health.
You can contact the Ombudsman at:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
To assist patients and carers in using the NHS complaints procedure, each hospital and Primary Care Trust (PCT) has a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) to support people who wish to make a complaint. You can search for your PCT by accessing the following link and entering your postcode in the search bar. PALS details will be located at the foot of your PCT's homepage.
There is also an Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) to provide help and support in making a formal complaint. ICAS can help you to structure your complaint, access relevant records and draft letters to the NHS organisation. ICAS information can be found at this link:
I hope this reply is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Shelley Wilson
Customer Service Centre