Penningtons calls for NHS complaints data to be used constructively to focus on healthcare provision problem areas

Posted: 30/08/2012

According to new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) published on 29 August, 162,100 written complaints were made about NHS services in 2011/12. On average, this is more than 3,000 complaints a week across the NHS and an increase of 12,364 (8.3%) from 2010-11.

Philippa Luscombe, partner in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons Solicitors LLP, said: “While the increase is worrying, these figures do indicate that issues are being recorded and, hopefully, dealt with by the NHS body concerned. This information should provide good information to identify problem areas of healthcare provision. We hope, however, that the information is used in this way and that the future trend is one of systems and care improvement rather than rising numbers of complaints and claims."

The NHS complaints procedure is the statutorily based mechanism for dealing with complaints about NHS care and treatment. All NHS organisations in England are required to operate the procedure. Since 2007-08 the volume of written complaints has risen by over 30,000 a year.

Just under half of the complaints in the last year relate to clinical care. With the exception of the London area, where outpatient complaints were most significant, the majority of complaints (about 34,000) relate to inpatient care. About 30,000 relate to outpatient care and there were over 9,000 written complaints about Accident and Emergency care. The complaints cover issues such as communication, delay and cancellations as well as actual treatment.

Philippa added: ‘It is interesting that, although the current focus is on the high number of claims against hospitals and doctors, the reality is that many make a complaint first. However, these figures, when combined with the claims instigated each year, indicate very high levels of concern about medical treatment.

“We believe that a good complaints process offers a huge potential benefit. In many cases, patients and their families are simply seeking a full and honest explanation of what happened and why. If their complaint is dealt with thoroughly, expeditiously and sensitively, they are much less likely to pursue their complaint further. Claims are often only instigated because individuals receive an unhelpful response to their complaint.

“Proper handling of complaints can make a huge difference to people and would avoid a good number of negligence claims ever being started. The other potential benefit of a good complaints procedure is that it can be used to identify problem areas in medical care and to make improvements.

“The most satisfying cases that we see are where a thorough investigation is carried out, explanations and apologies offered, and steps taken to avoid the same outcome recurring. This leaves families feeling that something good has come out of a bad set of circumstances and often that is all that they seek."

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