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New streamlined health and social care complaints system

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release (2008/0018) issued by The Government News Network on 7 February 2008

Early-Adopter sites to trial system ahead of national roll-out in April 2009

A new unified complaints system for health & social care which will make it easier for people to complain when things go wrong was unveiled by Health Minister Ann Keen today.

A simple two-stage complaints system focused on local resolution and then - if unresolved - an investigation by the Health or Local Government Ombudsman will replace the often lengthy and bureaucratic procedures currently in place**.

At the moment, there are separate complaints procedures for health & adult social care which make it particularly difficult for people who use a combination of services to make a complaint or for those services to respond.

The new arrangements will make the whole experience of making a complaint simpler, more user-friendly and far more responsive to people's needs. It also emphasises that health and social care services should routinely learn from complaints, feeding into service improvement.

The announcement follows a four-month consultation on proposals to reform the complaints system. This April, Early-Adopter sites will trial the new arrangements for six months before being rolled-out nationally in April 2009. There will be at least one Early-Adopter site in each SHA.

Health Minister Ann Keen said:

"I know that people find the current complaints system confusing. Some may also avoid complaining because they feel too intimidated or worry about damaging their relationship with their GP or social worker. This must change.

"This new streamlined approach will remove the need to follow a rigid set of procedures and replace them with a more open, flexible and personal service. It makes sense for everyone to use a more locally based system for complaints - one the public feel they can trust. It is in the interests of health and social care providers to be more accountable to their local communities.

"This new system will ensure organisations take complaints seriously and that Boards understand the benefits of dealing with complaints effectively and the consequences if they don't."

The new unified health and social care arrangements aim to:

- resolve complaints locally - there will be a more personal and flexible approach to handling complaints;

- ensure early and effective resolution, and robust handling of all cases not just those which are more complex;

- make sure people with complaints have access to effective support - this is particularly important for people who find it difficult to make their views heard,

- give people the option of going direct to their primary care trust with a complaint about their GP, instead of complaining directly to the GP;

- give people the option of going direct to their local authority with a complaint where the care has been arranged by the local authority;

- ensure organisations improve the services they provide by routinely learning from people's experiences.

With the emphasis on effective and robust resolution and with independence available through the Ombudsmen, the additional independent review of NHS complaints, currently carried out by the Healthcare Commission, will no longer be necessary.

Ann Abraham, Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, and Tony Redmond, Local Government Ombudsman said:

"The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsmen together welcome this important step towards an integrated approach to health and social care complaints. We are confident that the early-adopter sites will yield valuable lessons for the future. The simpler system that is being developed will be more responsive for the complainant and will also help to improve services for all patients and service users."

Marcia Fry, the Healthcare Commission's Head of Operational Development, said:

"We welcome and fully support the introduction of a new complaints system that will see more complaints resolved at a local level - we know that is what patients want. The Commission has highlighted this as an issue for some time.

"We know from our audit of complaints handling that NHS trusts are still struggling to act on and learn from complaints - the early adopters therefore have an important role in getting this right and ensuring that the new system is a success."

Notes to editors

1. 'Making Experiences Count: The proposed new arrangements for handling health and social care complaints' is available to download from the Department of Health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk

2. It fulfils the commitment in "Our health our care our say" to develop a single complaints system across health and social care focussed on resolving complaints locally with a more personal and comprehensive approach.

3. The four month consultation on proposals to reform the complaints system closed on 17th October 2007. The Department received more than 350 responses.

4. ** Current system for NHS complaints

There are currently three stages that a complaint can go through if it is not resolved to the complainant's satisfaction:

- Local Resolution by the provider organisation

- Investigation by the Healthcare Commission

- Investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman

** Current system for Social Care complaints

There are currently four stages in the social care complaints process:

- Local Resolution by the service provider

- Independent investigation by a single investigator

- Independent Review Panel

- Review by Local Government Ombudsman

5. The NHS carries out 380million treatments a year, and receives 140,000 complaints.

6. The Health Service Ombudsman considers complaints about poor treatment or services provided through the NHS in England. She is independent and impartial and her services are free.

7. Reform of the complaints system is part of a wider strategy to give patients a stronger voice. From April, Local Involvement Networks (LINk) are being set-up in every area to make it easier for communities to talk with the people who run care services and to scrutinise their work. These will be run by local individuals and patients' groups. From May, a strengthened duty on the NHS to involve patients in decisions about service changes will also come into force.

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