Assistant Director of Strategy and Partnerships
Last week, PHSO met with representatives from across the healthcare service to discuss the NHS Complaint Standards, and people’s experience of the Early Adopter programme.
The programme includes both our pilot sites, as well as other NHS organisations which have opted to implement the Standards before they are rolled out across the NHS next year. We heard from Ombudsman Rob Behrens; guest speaker Bumi Akinmutande, Central Complaints Manager at Barts Health NHS Trust; and the Liaison Managers at PHSO. Group discussions followed, giving rise to several really useful learning points.
Good complaints handling supports NHS staff
One of the issues at the forefront of everyone’s minds at the moment is COVID-19 and its ongoing effect on NHS staff and services. Speakers and guests acknowledged the pressure the healthcare system is under, and explored the ways in which a fair, timely and consistent complaints handling process could support NHS staff at this challenging time. Most people who make a complaint do so because they do not want mistakes to be repeated. Learning from complaints and implementing remedies quickly helps to avoid future problems, fosters better relationships between patients and staff, and ensures systemic improvements are made.
NHS complaint handlers, in particular, need greater support, training and authority in what is often a demanding and undervalued role. Delegates told us they were keen to see a formal, centralised approach to training where people could be confident they were all being trained in the same way, and to the same high standard. We heard how the Complaint Standards seek to foster a culture in which learning is placed above blame so that all parties can speak honestly and openly without fear of reprisal.
Getting it right for everyone
Guest speaker Bumi Akinmutande shared her own experience of using the Complaint Standards to bring about change in Barts Health NHS Trust. While seeing large-scale improvements takes time and effort, much can be achieved with enough forward planning, engaging with staff and patients, and focusing on early resolution.
Reaching underrepresented groups and asking for feedback helps to broaden access, as does making the complaints process as easy to understand and go through as possible. People can be put off making complaints which could drive improvements, simply because the process is too laborious and complicated. A focus on early resolution prevents more minor concerns and complaints from escalating unnecessarily, and keeping things simple means that the system is more accessible to a broader range of people.
Working together
Another major theme of the event was the importance of co-operation: sharing best practice, learning from one another’s trials and successes, and offering mutual support for improvement rather than blame. The Complaint Standards must continue to be developed in partnership with the NHS to avoid becoming part of the regulatory burden on staff. Senior leaders, regulators, complaint handlers and clinicians must also continue to work together to deliver a high quality complaints system which prioritises learning and fairness. If you would like to become an Early Adopter for the Complaint Standards, contact our liaison team: liaisonmanagers@ombudsman.org.uk.
Our thanks go to all the speakers, contributors and delegates who made the webinar such a success. Many of you told us how much you would like to see more events like this in the future – so watch this space!
