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Complaint about health and social care (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland · in English
€2.00This document is sold blank, to print and complete by hand.
Made for use in Northern Ireland
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For a patient or service user in Northern Ireland, or someone complaining with their consent, unhappy with care from a GP practice, a dentist, a hospital or another health and social care service. A formal complaint to the trust or practice under the complaints procedure every HSC organisation has followed since 1 January 2026: it says what happened and what you want done, asks for an answer within the procedure's time limits and names the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman as the next step. The Patient and Client Council helps free. Sent by email. Sold blank, as it holds health data.
- Made for use in Northern Ireland
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You want to complain in writing about your GP practice in Northern Ireland.
- The Trust's hospital missed something important in a relative's care and you want answers.
- You are unhappy with the social care the Trust arranges for your elderly parent.
- You want to make a formal complaint about the wait and how you were treated in A and E.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town or city
- Sender's postcode
- Date
- Recipient
- Recipient's address
- Recipient's postcode
- Patient
- Health and Care Number (if known)
- Period the complaint covers
- What the complaint is about
- Requested outcome
- Phone
- Attachments
Common questions
- Who can help me make a health or social care complaint in Northern Ireland?
- The Patient and Client Council gives free, independent help at any stage: it can help you write the complaint, make calls and come to meetings with you. Send the complaint to the trust or the practice that provided the care, by email or post, or speak to its complaints team first. A complaint about care is not a claim for compensation for negligence, which is a separate matter.
- How long do I have to complain about HSC care, and how fast must they answer?
- Normally within six months of the event, or of when you became aware of it, and no later than 12 months after the event; a later complaint can still be looked at in exceptional circumstances. Since 1 January 2026 every HSC organisation has followed the Ombudsman's model procedure: a frontline response, usually within five working days, then an investigation, acknowledged within three working days and normally answered within 20 working days.
- When can I take a health complaint to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman?
- Once the trust or practice has finished its complaints procedure and sent you its final response, which must tell you about the Ombudsman. You then normally have six months to complain to the Ombudsman, free, online or in writing; it can accept a later complaint in special circumstances. It can recommend an apology, a remedy or a change in practice, but it is not a court and does not award damages for negligence.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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