If something has gone wrong
Say so, to anybody here, in whatever way is easiest. You will not be handled and you will not need to escalate to be taken seriously. This page sets out the stages, the timescales and where to go if we do not put it right.
The procedure
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Tell us, however you like
In person, by phone on 020 7946 0184, or by email to hello@frithmedispa.com. You do not have to use the word complaint and you do not have to put it in writing. Most things are sorted out at this point, on the day.
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Acknowledged within three working days
In writing, from the clinic manager, naming the person who will investigate and what they will look at. If the complaint is about the clinic manager, it goes straight to the medical director instead.
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A full response within twenty working days
In writing. It sets out what we found, what we got wrong if we got something wrong, what we are doing about it, and what we are offering. If it is going to take longer than twenty working days, you get told why and when, before day twenty rather than after it.
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Review by the medical director
If the response does not resolve it, ask for a review. That is a fresh look by someone who was not involved, and it comes back within a further twenty working days.
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Outside the clinic
You are entitled to go outside at any stage, and doing so does not affect your care here. The routes are set out on the right.
Taking it further
About a professional. Concerns about a doctor go to the General Medical Council. Concerns about a nurse go to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Both take complaints directly from patients and neither needs the clinic's involvement.
About the service. Where a clinic subscribes to an independent adjudication scheme for private healthcare, the third stage of any complaint goes there, and a real clinic would name its scheme and membership number in this paragraph.
About your data. The Information Commissioner's Office takes complaints about how personal information has been handled, and you can go to them without coming to us first.
About a treatment that caused harm. A solicitor, and you should not let a clinic talk you out of taking that advice.
What we will not ask of you
We will not ask you to sign anything preventing you from talking about your experience, at any stage, including as part of a refund. Non disclosure agreements exist in this industry and we think using one on a patient is indefensible.
Complications are not complaints
If a recognised complication has happened, that is a clinical matter and it is managed at no charge, immediately, without any of the above. Ring rather than writing. The aftercare page lists what to ring about the same day.