The Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) is provided by NHS Suffolk, the county's primary care trust. PALS is a free confidential information service giving on the spot help for patients, their families, carers and staff who live in the Suffolk area. We provide a non-discriminatory service and are able to offer advice in a way which will meet your needs.

PALS - we are here to help:

• To resolve problems or concerns about health services as quickly as possible
• Advice and support for you and your family
• Point you in the right direction of other useful sources of information and support
• By responding to your concerns, we can improve and develop the services that NHS Suffolk provides for you
• We can put you in touch with an emergency dentist if you are not already registered and need urgent help

We can provide information and advice on NHS services such as general practitioners, dentists, podiatrists, opticians, pharmacists, and other community health services as well as voluntary and support groups.

PALS can assist you in making an appointment with an organisation or department. We are also able to attend with you if that is your wish and help you talk about your concerns.

We can also tell you how / where to find out more about healthy lifestyles for example, stopping smoking, healthy eating, drugs and alcohol.

The main aim of PALS is to resolve problems and concerns for people using NHS services quickly before they become a major issue.

PALS also acts as an early warning system for the primary care trust by monitoring and highlighting any problems or gaps in service provision.

We feedback to enable NHS Suffolk to review and improve its services. If despite speaking to the PALS service you wish to make a formal complaint we will explain the procedure to you and put you in contact with the right people.

We may not have all the answers straight away but we will help you to resolve your concerns and we can always put you in touch with someone else who will be able to help you!

How to contact PALS?

There is a free phone number for you to use:

0800 389 6819

Our email address is:

pals@suffolkpct.nhs.uk

We are based at:

Rushbrook House,
Paper Mill Lane, Bramford, IP8 4DE

We do not give medical or legal advice or provide counseling or specialist advocacy services. However, we can point you in the right direction to access these services.