Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

What is PALS?

PALS is a Patient Advice and Liaison Service for people using the NHS.  It's there to help you whether you are a patient, carer, relative or friend to resolve any problems as quickly and easily as possible, and to provide any information you may require.

PALS was set up to help patients, their families, and carers get the best service possible from their GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians.  PALS do this by listening to patients' concerns as well as their suggestions about improvements to services.  PALS is confidential, non-judgemental and independent, and the service helps to enable patients to make the most appropriate and informed choices about their own health care.

At PALS we can offer:

• Help to sort out problems quickly on your behalf
• Advice on how to become involved in the development of NHS North East Essex services
• Information on services available locally, both NHS and other agencies and how to access them
• Help to manage a complaint informally if you would prefer not to go through the formal complaints procedure
• Guidance on the formal complaints procedure if we are unable to resolve your problem
• A listening ear to suggestions and ideas to help us improve services

PALS does not:

• provide counselling
• deal with or investigate formal complaints
• provide a complaints advocacy service

Confidentiality

PALS is a completely confidential service and we will not speak to anyone about you or the issues raised without your permission.  Your enquiry will remain anonymous, but in order to ensure all concerns are brought to the attention of the correct NHS staff to enable service improvement, we keep confidential records of all enquiries. We can also communicate in different languages, via an interpreter, and make use of other communication methods where necessary.

How to contact PALS

There is a PALS team to cover each of the three localities in the north Essex. Please click in the locality box below where you live for information on how to contact the team in your area.