Family Health

NHS Tayside does not directly employ family Health Service Practitioners and so the procedure for dealing with complaints about them is slightly different. Each Practice must have its own Practice Based Complaints Procedure, which must conform to certain standards. Wherever possible, therefore, complaints should be handled directly by the Practice, at least in the first instance.

It is recognised, however, that sometimes people do not feel comfortable about complaining directly to the Practice concerned, or feel that it would not be appropriate to do so. In these cases, the Complaints and Advice Team can act as an intermediary, to ensure that the complaint is investigated and responded to by the Practice.

If you are unhappy with a Practice’s response to your complaint, you can write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Please click on SPSO for details

Family Health Service Practitioners are independent contractors and some of the work they do may be private. Some examples are:

• GP's – medicals for insurance policies are private.
• Dentists – white fillings in back teeth are private.
• Chemists – goods apart from prescription medicines are sold privately.
• Opticians –The General Ophthalmic Service provides only a free eye examination to certain categories of patients – not optical appliances such as lenses, contact lenses or frames. Only patients in receipt of certain income-based benefits get a voucher towards the cost of spectacles.

If you are in doubt about whether a service you are receiving is NHS or private, you should ask the practitioner who is providing it. The Complaints and Advice Team cannot become involved in any complaint about a service, which has been provided privately.