NHS Complaints System “letting people down” warns Healthwatch Devon, Plymouth and Torbay

A Devon healthcare champion is calling for major reforms to the way the NHS deals with complaints from members of the public following publication of a new report and national survey.

A Devon healthcare champion is calling for major reforms to the way the NHS deals with complaints from members of the public following publication of a new report and national survey.

Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay is the local independent champion for people using health and social care services and contributed local feedback to this report, produced by their national partners Healthwatch England. 

The poll, carried out by YouGov for Healthwatch England, found that out of 2,650 people who had a poor experience of NHS healthcare, over half, (56%), took no action about their care, and fewer than one-in-10, (nine per cent), made a formal complaint.

Among those who didn’t formally complain when they had a poor experience, the research identified a number of key barriers to doing so:

• Around a third of respondents, (34%), didn’t believe the NHS would use their complaint to improve services; 
• A third, (33%), thought NHS organisations wouldn’t respond effectively to their complaint; 
• Thirty percent didn’t believe the NHS would think their complaint was serious enough;
• One in five, 20%, were scared that complaining would affect their ongoing treatment; 
• Nineteen percent said they didn’t know who to contact to make a complaint.
• Overall, over half of people who made a complaint to an NHS organisation were dissatisfied with both the process of making a complaint (56%), and the outcome of their complaint, (also 56%).  

Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay Strategic Lead Pat Harris, said:

“Nationally, public satisfaction with the NHS is at record low levels but at the same time, this survey shows patients feel complaints aren’t taken seriously or that nothing changes as a result.

“We encourage local people to get in touch with us if they have had a negative or positive experience using local NHS services or complaining about them. Only then can we build an accurate picture of the necessary improvements that could be made to help make care better for people in Devon, Plymouth or Torbay.”

Healthwatch England Chief Executive, Louise Ansari, said:

“We want to make it easier for patients and families in Devon to navigate the complaints system through the NHS App, the setting of mandatory response times and measuring people’s satisfaction with the process and outcomes will be part of this.”

“We need a step change in how people’s complaints are handled and acted on. Healthcare leaders should focus on developing a culture of listening and learning from complaints across the sector.”

Key recommendations 

Healthwatch England’s findings show the NHS does not consistently welcome, handle, respond to or learn from complaints in a patient-centred manner. They have called for action to: 

• Make the complaints process easier for patients and their families to navigate. 
• Monitor and improve the performance of organisations that handle complaints 
• Develop a culture of listening to and learning from complaints. 

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. 

There have been structural changes in complaints handling, with England’s 42 integrated care boards taking on powers to handle primary care complaints where patients don’t go to their service directly.

Most recently, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which handles concerns that haven’t been resolved locally, saw a significant rise in complaints about the NHS. They have called on the Government and the NHS to listen and learn "when things go wrong".  

The full Healthwatch England Report, A Pain to Complain, can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yc2tf825.

To share your experiences of local health and/or social care with Healthwatch, call free on 0800 520 0640, email info@HWDPT.org or visit one of the local Healthwatch websites at healthwatchdevon.co.uk, healthwatchplymouth.co.uk or healthwatchtorbay.org.uk