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General Contact Details

Make a Complaint

The State Hospital is committed to providing high quality person-centred care and treatment to our patients, and the best possible services at all times.  However, we recognise that sometimes things do go wrong.

If during contact with our services, there is something that you have not been satisfied with, please let us know as soon as possible. By providing feedback about your experience you will help us to continue to improve our services. If we cannot resolve matters in the way you want, we will explain why it is not possible to do as you suggest.

The views of patients and their loved ones help us to make continuous improvements – our complaints process is a key component of this.  We fully recognise that when concerns about patient care are formally raised through the complaints process you may be upset and distressed and understandably emotions can run high.  The Complaints Department has a dedicated Complaints Officer and Complaints Manager who are here to help you and will do so in a dignified and respectful way and it is expected that the same courtesy is shown to them.

This page is to give you guidance on how to make a complaint if you wish to do so.

NHS Scotland has a two stage complaints procedure:

  • Stage 1 – We aim to resolve all straightforward complaints and concerns within five working days. This will usually be by arranging for a local manager to contact you. If you are dissatisfied with our response at this stage you can ask us to consider your complaint at Stage 2.
  • Stage 2 – Some complaints or concerns are more serious and require a more detailed investigation into what went wrong. We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We aim to give you our decision as soon as possible, but usually within 20 working days. 

Who can complain?

Patients, carers or relatives of patients who are receiving, or have received a service from the State Hospital.  We will not be able to look into your concerns if they relate to any other Mental Health Service or Health Board.

Can I make a complaint on behalf of someone else?

If your complaint relates to a relative or friend who is receiving treatment at the Hospital, we will need to ask for their permission for you to make a complaint on their behalf. If they do not give consent, we may still be able to respond to some aspects of the complaint. You can complain to us directly or through a representative. If the complaint relates to patient care, consent will be required from the patient to allow us to respond to your representative.

How can I make a complaint?

There are a number of ways.  This can be done in person to any member of staff if you are visiting, by telephone to 01555 842200, by email to TSH.ComplaintsandFeedback@nhs.scot, or you can write to us at: State Hospital, 110 Lampits Road, Carstairs, Lanark, ML11 8RP.

Please provide your full name, postal address and telephone number and details of your relationship to the patient. You can also make a complaint using the Complaints Form below.

Complaints Form

How to Contact us:

Independent advice and support

The State Hospital has an easily accessible, on-site, independent Patients’ Advocacy Service (PAS) which provides free and confidential support to patients. The PAS promotes an awareness and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of patients and will support them to give feedback, make comments, raise concerns or make a complaint about treatment and care provided by the NHS in Scotland. More detail on this service can be found at https://patientsadvocacyservice.scot/.

Out with the Hospital, support is available to carers and families of patients from the Patients Advice & Support Service. Further details can be found at https://www.cas.org.uk/pass.

If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of your complaint response at Stage 2 of the process, you can write to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO will only consider complaints after they have been through both stages of the NHS complaints process. You can contact them:

BSL clip for the NHS inform article about Feedback and Complaints has been published. It is available here and also on YouTube.

State Hospital Complaints and Feedback Policy and Procedure (CRP01) can be found on the Policies page of this website.

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