Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Customer service - help and advice in your local NHS

Freephone 0800 195 7998 (or Landline 0191 374 4231)

As a patient, relative or carer, sometimes you may need to turn to someone outside of the clinical team for help or support. This is where PALS can help.

PALS can provide confidential advice and support to help you resolve queries or concerns about your NHS care. PALS can also provide general information about NHS services.

PALS can often resolve queries and concerns quickly and informally by liaising with the relevant staff. If PALS is unable to help, we will support you in finding out who can.

PALS is here to give you support and appropriate assistance to:

Solve a problem that you are having now
Let staff in NHS services know when you are satisfied, dissatisfied or concerned about something
Ask questions on your behalf
Provide information about health services or explain where you can go for information or help
Tell you what your options are in relation to your particular situation

The PALS team at NHS County Durham and Darlington is able to provide confidential support with compliments, comments, concerns and queries relating to:

GP services
NHS dentistry
NHS pharmacies
NHS opticians
The commissioning of NHS services for County Durham and Darlington residents

If your issue is about an NHS service not listed above, with your agreement, the team will usually pass this to the appropriate service for support.

Anyone can contact NHS County Durham and Darlington's PALS team for information, advice or to make a suggestion about how things should be improved.

Please be aware that for PALS to provide help with a specific problem experienced by an individual patient, the service will usually need the agreement of the patient.

PALS at NHS County Durham and Darlington is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with the exception of public holidays. If the line is busy, please leave your name, contact number and a short message and we will call you back as soon as possible. A confidential 24 hour answer machine facility is provided.

The team can be contacted on:

Freephone: 0800 195 7998

Landline: 0191 374 4231

Email: cd-pct.pals@nhs.net

PALS in other local NHS organisations can be contacted on:

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust: (University Hospital of North Durham, Bishop Auckland General Hospital and Darlington Memorial Hospital, GP out of hours and urgent care services, district nursing, school nursing, health visiting, community hospital and other community NHS services): Telephone: 0800 783 5774
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust: (University Hospital of Hartlepool, University Hospital of North Tees): Telephone: 0800 0920084
City Hospitals Sunderland: Telephone: 0800 5876513
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust: (Mental health and learning disability services): Telephone: 0800 0520219
South Tees NHS Foundation Trust: (James Cook University Hospital, Friarage Hospital): Telephone 0800 0282451
Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust: Telephone 0800 9530667
South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust: Telephone 0191 4041072
North of Tyne PALS: (NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland and North East Ambulance Service): Telephone 0800 0320202
NHS South of Tyne and Wear: (Primary care services and commissioning in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland): 0800 7312326
Primary care services and commissioning in Teesside: 0800 0130500
Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust: (Mental health and learning disability services): 0800 3284397

PALS does not investigate 'complaints' but will provide informal support in resolving a query or concern.

Where an issue requires a more detailed investigation and response, PALS can provide you with information on the NHS complaints procedure and on independent support available if you decide to pursue a complaint.

PALS cannot provide assistance with issues which have already been raised via the NHS complaints procedure.

Although PALS cannot provide help with social care complaints, the service can advise you on who to contact.

PALS does not provide medical advice.

Please note that speaking to PALS will not adversely affect the care you receive. PALS will treat all information you supply as strictly confidential.

PALS may need to collect personal information from you in order to provide the best possible service. However, PALS staff will not disclose your personal details to anyone without your permission.

The service is confidential, the only exception to this is if you indicate that you or someone else is at risk, in which case PALS may act with or without your consent in the interests of safety.

Information about PALS is available in other languages and formats upon request.