We need an effective NHS complaints system
New research has just been published by Healthwatch England (NHS complaints system lets people down, new research warns) which confirms that the picture of health and social care complaints handling in Shropshire that we found in October 2023 (NHS and Social Care Complaints Report | Healthwatch Shropshire) is seen right across the country.
We found:
- People told us that they didn’t feel that they were taken seriously or given proper attention, they described feeling ignored, ‘fobbed off’ or that their complaint was not taken seriously by those investigating it.
- People commented on the feeling that organisations were defensive in their approach to their complaint, mentioning a feeling of being ‘lied to’ or just apologised to without explanations.
- People told us about their experiences of using the complaints process and that they felt it was difficult to navigate or confusing.
- Delays were a key theme which many people told us they were concerned about.
- People told us about their dissatisfaction with the response they received to their complaint.
- People told us they did not feel confident that things would change or services would improve as a result of their complaint
As Healthwatch England points out, making a complaint is a right enshrined in the NHS Constitution. Introduced in 2009, the constitution pledges to listen and learn from complaints and drive improvements in patient care.
An effective complaints system should be an essential part of improving health services and restoring public satisfaction with the NHS, which is at a record low, 24%, according to data from The King’s Fund.
In recent years, numerous public inquiries and reports have called for changes to the complaints system after providers and regulators failed to act in serious safety cases.
"We again call on the local health and social care system to ensure the measures people told us would improve the process are in place and that the recommendations we made to the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System should be implemented."
Measures people told us would improve the process:
- Ensure people feel they are taken seriously and have been heard
- Respond openly and honestly to complaints in a language that people can easily understand
- Simplify complaints procedures
- Provide a single point of contact
- Minimise delays
- Improve communication and be responsive to the individual needs of people making a complaint
Recommendations we made to the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System:
- Add public information to the ICS website about complaints, people’s rights within the process and what they can expect, ensuring it is clear and easy to understand following the NHS Accessible Information Standard. Include the necessary contact details of service providers and the local Independent Health Complaints Advocacy services.
- All organisations in the ICS to commit to working in partnership to meet the expectations laid out in the NHS Complaint Standards and create an ‘effective complaint handling system’
- Involve people who have used the complaints process to develop an integrated system across the ICS.
- Publicly report on the complaints received across the ICS, learning and actions taken to prevent similar experiences to build public trust in the effectiveness of the process and value of feedback
