After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
The Queen Alexandra Hospital is located just on the hill slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth. It is conveniently situated for both the M27 and A3M.
Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health. We are committed to the active involvement of family members, friends and carers during a hospital stay. Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health.
More information on visiting hospital for an appointment.
If you've had experience of using our services and would like to make a comment then please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Your views are very important to us and we would like to hear where you think improvements are needed or where things have gone so well that you would like to share your thanks or gratitude with the staff involved. When things have not gone so well then you can be sure that we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with PALS.
During your stay in hospital you will meet a number of different members of staff. All members of staff wear name badges, but if you are not sure who someone is or what they do, please feel free to ask them to introduce themselves and explain what they do.
If you have any questions about your treatment, please ask a doctor or a nurse.
There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved with the Trust, from volunteering to attending our public meetings, our Annual General Meeting or our hospital open day which is held every year.
We welcome and value your feedback and use the views you share with us in a number of ways to learn and make improvements as well as sharing best practice. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways.
Last updated: 23 March 2021
If you would like to send a personal message or greeting to a loved one while they are in hospital, please send your message to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) any time by emailing messagetolovedones@porthosp.nhs.uk
Don't forget to provide the name of the patient, including the ward they are on if you know this. Alternatively, you can call the PALS team who can write down your message over the phone.
The PALS team will add your message to a lovely template which is printed and laminated in order to keep it clean. Photographs can also be included with your message, just email them across to the above address. The team aim to deliver your personal messages and photographs on the same day of receiving them.
We recognise how important it is to hear how it feels for our patients and visitors coming into our wards and departments and will always try to use feedback to improve our services. PALS is a support service set up to allow patients and visitors to share their experience and help us to keep providing the best possible care.
When contacting PALS, please let them know whether you wish to make a comment on your experience, pass on a compliment to a particular team or individual or if you would like to make a complaint. Letting the team know straight away will help to make sure you are passed across to the most appropriate staff member and your feedback is dealt with as quickly as possible.
Webform: Click here to contact the team online
Telephone: Free phone 0800 917 6039 or 023 9228 6309
Email: PHT.PALS@porthosp.nhs.uk
If you would like to register a formal complaint, please contact:
Telephone: 023 9228 6530 or 023 9228 6000 (ext. 3473)
Email: PHU.Complaints@porthosp.nhs.uk
Write to us: PALS, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Southwick Hill Road, Cosham, PO6 3LY
Complete this webform:
COMMENTS: It’s important that we use your feedback to continuously improve our standards so please feel free to get in touch with PALS if you have any suggestions of how to make things better. PALS will listen and pass your comments onto the areas involved to help make improvements for you as well as our future patients.
COMPLIMENTS: Every member of staff working for the Trust aims to provide the best possible care and support each day and in one year we received 4,997 messages of thanks from patients and relatives. These are only the recorded compliments (cards, letters, e-mails), but we know that patients and relatives regularly express their gratitude to the staff personally, for which we are extremely grateful, but if you would like to have your feedback registered then get in touch with PALS.
CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS: Despite staff’s good intentions, we recognise that in a busy hospital environment, sometimes things can go wrong; so when this happens we would advise you to speak up soon: By sharing your concerns you can also help us make sure that others don’t have the same poor experience. We know that sometimes it can feel uncomfortable to raise a concern, but we hope that you will feel confident to speak directly to senior members of staff in the area where the problem arose or talk to one of our PALS Team.
FORMAL COMPLAINTS PROCESS: When there has been a serious incident that needs a thorough investigation, it may be best to handle this through the formal complaints process and PALS will support you through this process.
Acknowledgement: Once we have received your formal complaint, we will contact you (by letter, e-mail or telephone) to confirm that we are looking into your concerns within 3 working days. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to you along with a Complaints leaflet and our contact details so that you can contact us directly if you have any concerns about the investigation. At this stage, we will ask you about consent if you are complaining on behalf of someone else and we may need to send you a consent form to have the patient sign and send back to us to prove that they are happy for us to share details of their care with you.
Investigation: Each complaint received is thoroughly investigated by the Senior Management Team at the Divisions and Care Groups throughout the Trust and the outcomes are reviewed by the Trust’s Executive Team. We aim to respond within 30 working days, but an investigation can sometimes involve speaking to a number of Medical, Nursing and Administration staff throughout the Trust, as well as reviewing medical records, and sometimes this may take longer than expected, but we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible.
Response: If we think that the investigation may take longer, we will let you know as soon as possible. We take all complaints and concerns very seriously and we have an open and honest approach to responding. When an investigation has found evidence of a failure or error then we will acknowledge this and provide you with an explanation of how this happened and what we are going to do to try to prevent it from happening again.
What if I am still not happy? If you are not satisfied with the Trust’s response to your complaint then we would ask you to contact us again explaining what you feel was not addressed appropriately. We will try to work with you until we reach a satisfactory outcome, but at the end of our investigation, if you are still not satisfied then you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review your complaint.
The PHSO considers complaints about poor treatment or services throughout the NHS in England. The service is independent, impartial and free. The PHSO does not have to investigate every complaint, but will usually do so if there is clear evidence of hardship or injustice. If you wish to raise a complaint with the Ombudsman please call 0345 015 4033 (website: www.Ombudsman.org.uk) or complete the form using the following link www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Support in making a complaint if you are deaf or hard of hearing: https://youtu.be/u_NyJd4jjoM
Support in making a complaint if you have a learning disability, autism or both: https://youtu.be/qOkAdvAkigk
Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service (for Portsmouth residents)
Telephone: 0330 440 9000
Complaints – 8:30am to 5pm
PALS – phone lines open between 8:30am to 4:30pm
PALS office open between 10am to 3pm
Located in the atrium on A level at QA Hospital.
Complaints – 023 9228 6000 ext 3472
PALS – 0800 917 6039 or 023 9228 6309
