Action Required: Submitting Your Annual Complaints Report
We would like to remind pharmacies of the contractual requirement to prepare and submit an annual complaints report covering the previous financial year.
What Must the Report Include?
To fulfil the requirements of the complaint’s procedure, your annual report must include:
· The total number of complaints received.
· The number of complaints that were decided to be well-founded.
· The number of complaints referred to the Health Service Commissioner
You will also be required to provide a summary of the subject matter of the complaints, any matters of general importance regarding how they were handled, and any actions taken to improve services as a result of the feedback. As the report is public-facing and can be requested by anyone, please ensure that you maintain patient confidentiality. Your report should not contain personal identifiable information unless there is prior consent from the complainant or if the matter is formally investigated by a specific case.
The report must be sent to hweicbhv.pharmacy@nhs.net as soon as reasonably practicable after the year-end (31st March 2026).
This is a question that does come up on full Community Pharmacy Assurance Framework surveys and contract monitoring visits. For more information, you can visit Community Pharmacy England, who have provided templates for you to use for your complaints.
