Patient advice liaison service

As you will be aware the NHS is facing significant challenges with regard to the COVID-19 virus. The team are working hard to support the Trust and this may impact on our ability to respond as quickly as we would like. We are sorry that our timescales for responding to you may be affected, we will contact you as soon as we possibly can.

Our Patient Experience team deals with all Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) enquiries in a number of ways. For example:

  • Helping to answer questions about your treatment
  • Providing information and putting you in touch with other health care providers and organisations
  • Receiving comments and suggestions about your experience of using our services and feeding them back so that services can be improved
  • Providing access to bilingual health advocates and other support services you or your family might need in order to use PALS, eg interpreters or signers
  • Supplying information on patients' rights
  • Passing on your thanks to ambulance staff if you would like to praise them for your treatment
  • Advising on how to access the complaints service, if you are unhappy about any aspect of your care or treatment
  • Arranging referral to independent complaints advocacy services that can help to submit formal complaints.

Our PALS promise

If you contact PALS for assistance or advice, a member of the Patient Experience team will:

  • contact you within 24 hours*
  • arrange a meeting with a manager at a time and place convenient to you
  • help you to find the best way of resolving your problem or answering your question deal with your enquiries in confidence and only pass on information to other care agencies with your consent
  • not access your medical records without your permission
  • keep you updated on the progress of enquiries and any action we propose to take
  • use information from you anonymously to improve services ask you for feedback on PALS to use as a learning opportunity to improve our services.

* Monday to Friday, during office hours.

You can contact the Patient Experience team - 

By phone: 0800 028 3382 (freephone) or 01234 243320.
Phone lines are open between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday.

By email: feedback@eastamb.nhs.uk

By post:
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST)
Patient Experience Team
Hammond Road
Bedford
MK41 0RG

Please note: This phone is not manned by clinically trained staff and they are unable to assist with clinical needs or patient enquiries regarding Covid-19/Coronavirus.  NHS 111 has an online COVID-19 Coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do.