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.
[ENDS]