Mr P complained to us about the way that the Trust handled the complaints he made after he wrote to them asking for information.
What happened
Mr P wrote to his Trust in autumn 2012 to ask for some information. The Trust treated his letter as a complaint. Mr P then complained in the spring of 2013 and when he did not get a reply, he sent another copy of his letter a month later.
He complained to us that he considered that NHS complaint handling regulations were not followed because the Trust's responses were neither speedy nor efficient. Mr P was also concerned that the Trust did not, as far as reasonably practicable, keep him informed about the progress of his complaints.
What we found
It was reasonable of the Trust to consider Mr P's letter of spring 2013 to be a continuation of an ongoing complaint. However, Mr P encountered poor complaint handling after the Trust received the letter. The Trust did not update Mr P and did not issue a further response until later in 2013. It did not apologise for the delay and did not apologise for failing to update Mr P about his complaint.
Another complaint Mr P made later in 2013 encountered similar delays in updates and response.
We upheld the complaint.
Putting it right
The Trust drew up an action plan to prevent similar instances of poor complaint handling in the future.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Lancashire
Came to an unsound decision
Recommendation to learn lessons or draw up an action plan