The NHS needs to do more to act on and learn from complaints by patients, the Healthcare Commission has warned. Publishing the first audit of how well the NHS handles complaints, the watchdog says it has found considerable variations in performance.
The report said that Trusts should do more to make it easier for people to raise a complaint; they should ensure that the care of those raising complaints is not adversely affected as a result; and they should strengthen procedures for investigating problems and improving services in the light of the lessons learned.
The report coincides with a poll by the consumer group, Which?, highlighting the fact that many hospital patients do not speak out about poor care as they think it will lead to even worse treatment. The survey found that 49% were unhappy about an aspect of their stay, such as food, cleanliness or organisation of care, but fewer than half complained.
More than a third thought raising an issue would not make a difference and a quarter said they just "expected their stay to be like that". More than one in 10 thought complaining could compromise the care they received.
However, hospital staff said they would welcome patients’ views. A separate survey of hospital staff found that 99% would like to hear about their patients' concerns. Two-thirds felt patients did not give enough feedback.
Previous figures from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care show that the number of written complaints received by frontline NHS trusts in England jumped by more than 5% during 2005-06.
Anna Walker, the Commission’s Chief Executive, said: "Given that the NHS provides 380 million treatments a year, the number of complaints (140,000) is relatively small.
“But when someone does complain, trusts need to respond well. Patients want complaints resolved quickly and locally. Trusts need to show they can respond to the individual’s concern and learn as an organisation. If they do not, it could seriously damage people’s faith in the NHS.
“The best organisations clearly value feedback from the people they serve, but the NHS is some way from doing this consistently.”
