Patients and visitors : Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

We want to know what you think about our services, what we do well, and what we could do better.

PALS is an informal service you can contact to share your suggestions or concerns to help us improve.

We can:

• offer you, your families and carers help, advice, and information
• provide you with information about our services
• show you how you can get more involved in your own healthcare
• help resolve problems and concerns when you're using our services
• provide information on the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent advocacy support if you're making a formal complaint
• improve the NHS by listening to concerns, suggestions, and experiences
• provide an early warning system for the Trust and its monitoring bodies by identifying gaps or problems within services

PALS is unable to give medical advice or emergency assistance.

We do not:

• investigate or respond to formal complaints
• provide advocacy nor source independent advocacy (other than signpost to contact information that is available publicly)
  offer a mediation service
• pursue a concern which has exhausted the NHS complaints procedure
• deal with concerns raised about the PALS service (this would be seen as a conflict of interest and should be dealt with through the formal complaints procedure)
• act as a counsellor or provide medical, legal or financial advice
  resolve staff issues (staff will be signposted to Freedom to Speak Up colleagues)
• offer advice on requests for compensation (seek independent legal advice via an advocacy group)
• support with concerns relating to non-Berkshire Healthcare services

You can contact our PALS team for support from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

If you contact us outside of this time and leave a message with us, we will get back to you within five working days.

When contacting PALS by email or letter, or leaving us a voice message, please include your name, date of birth, postcode, NHS number, and the service that you are referring to.

Write to us

Patient Advice & Liaison Service
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
London House
London Road
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 2UT

At Berkshire Healthcare, we provide mental health and physical health services across Berkshire.

There are other NHS organisations who provide other services across Berkshire. To make sure your views are heard, please make sure to contact the correct organisation.

Your GP

If you have a concern with your GP, please contact the Practice Management team at your clinic in the first instance.

• Find your local GP