Frontline staff in the NHS and public services shouldn’t fear complaints

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/16/frontline-staff-nhs-public-services-complaints

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Too many people feel that their concerns are going unheard when they complain about public services and worry that complaining will affect the way they are treated by the organisation.

The findings are from a survey of 4,263 people earlier this year about many aspects of complaining, including the barriers they may have faced. Of those who did actually complain, we wanted to know more about their experience of complaining to organisations whose unresolved complaints we investigate, such as the NHS in England and UK government departments and organisations, from the UK Border Force to the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority. Of those asked further questions, some had brought their complaints to us, but most hadn’t. Only a third of those who had complained locally felt they were listened to, less than half (48%) felt that making their complaint was simple and easy to do, while more than half (52%) were worried that complaining might affect the way they were treated by the organisation. Sadly, less than a third (28%) felt that their complaint made a difference.

This is worrying as complaints give an organisation the opportunity to learn lessons from mistakes and improve the service. Complaints shouldn’t be feared by those on the frontline or by public service leaders.

Being at the apex of the complaints system, we see examples of both good and bad complaint handling. Most people bring their complaint to us as they feel that they haven’t received a proper apology or that not enough has been done to put things right.

Related: It's a dirty little secret of the NHS, but patients who complain get better care

Nevertheless, many organisations now recognise the value of complaints and actively encourage feedback. And a rise in complaints isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can mean that an organisation has gone from being closed and defensive to being more open and willing to learn.

Around 80% of the unresolved complaints we investigate are about the NHS in England. Through our outreach work, we find that many hospitals are trying out innovative ways to deal with complaints or better still, they are trying to address concerns so that they don’t turn into complaints. I heard how one maternity service speaks to women about to leave the unit to answer any questions they have and to hear about their experience. They have now noticed a drop in complaints about maternity care.

Senior staff at another trust are planning to contact the families of patients who died in the hospital three to four weeks after the death, to ask if they have any concerns about their loved one’s care and to open a dialogue with them. We know that many grieving relatives and friends are not able to take in information given to them immediately after the death of a loved one. This could help address concerns early on.

We uphold just over a third of the complaints we investigate. But the sad truth is that we are still seeing too many complaints that could be resolved locally. Many people complain because they want an apology and an explanation when something goes wrong. They shouldn’t have to wait until they come to us to receive that. I want all patients and service users to be able to say: “I felt confident to speak up and making my complaint was simple. I felt listened to and understood. I feel that my complaint made a difference.”

Sadly, these results show there is still some way to go to achieving this. However there are glimmers of hope. There is now a huge focus on complaints by public service leaders and our user-led vision for raising concerns and complaints, My Expectations, is being adopted by the NHS to measure improvements in complaint handling.

We too are listening to people’s experience of our service. We now investigate 10 times more complaints than in 2012-13. By lowering the threshold for investigating complaints, shortening the assessment process and moving resources into the investigation stage we completed more than 4,000 in the last financial year.