Annual Report of Complaints, Claims and Compliments for the year ended 31 March 2015

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1 ENCLOSURE: Y Date of Trust Board 27 May 2015 Title of Report Purpose of Report Abstract Risks and benefits of proposed action Strategic Objective and/or Annual Plan Objective and/or Quality Goal Recommendation Presented by Previous consideration by Board Committee or EDT Annual Report of Complaints, Claims and Compliments for the year ended 31 March 2015 Information The report provides a summary of the year, together with the number of complaints received during 2015 compared to the previous year, and the number of compliments, and claims received. N/A The Trust Board are asked to receive the report, for information Amanda Mitchell, Complaints and Board Governance Officer QRAC 18 May 2015 Appendices In completing this report, I confirm the following matters have been considered: a) Implications for the NHS Constitution b) Implications for CQC registration c) Equalities Impact d) Environmental impact 1

2 Summary of the Year Annual Report of Complaints, Claims and Compliments for the year ended 31 March 2015 This year has seen the number of complaints increase, with a peak in October, similar to the previous year, and also in the final month of the year. During the year the Quality and Risk Assurance Committee asked for complaints to be categorised into system complaints, or individual complaints, and for any learning for system complaints to be followed up, and evidence provided that the learning is in place. The first report will be presented to QRAC in June, to provide this evidence. The Complaints Officer attends quarterly Complaint Manager Forums, which enables closer links to other organisations, and sharing of processes. The Complaints Policy has been updated, and the Joint Complaints Handling Protocol has been updated and signed by the Trust. This Protocol is a written agreement between a number of organisations to cooperate with each other on any multi-organisational complaints that are received. The Complaints Officer has undertaken the Capsticks Diploma in Clinical Risk and Claims Management, as the role is gradually taking on the clinical negligence claims, and coroner s inquest, cases from the Deputy Director of Quality Assurance, who is due to retire during the next financial year. Complaint Numbers During the twelve months from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, 271 complaints were received from service users or their relatives, compared to 207 the previous year, and 170 the year before. This continues the trend of an increase in complaint numbers. In addition to those 271 complaints, 5 complaints were re-opened as the complainant was not satisfied with the first response, but were then content with either the second letter, or a subsequent meeting. Of those 271 complaints, 134 complaints were upheld. There was a peak in complaints during October, and again during March. A couple of themes have arisen during the year as follows: - A theme that emerged early in the year was in relation to Children s Speech and Language Therapy (SLT). This was due to two changes: a demand and capacity analysis resulted in reductions to staffing and, as a consequence, a need to place a limit on the number of visits to patients. In addition, Health Visitors were asked to delay referral to SLT until the child had reached 3 years of age. The complaints received were from parents in relation to the reduction in SLT sessions for their children; - During July, a theme emerged about some of the Community Nursing and Therapy teams, and problems with appointments, and attendance at the weekends. This may have arisen due to the introduction of the Hub system; - Later in the year, continence products emerged as a theme, as the product used was changed. This led to a number of unhappy service users. Prepared by Complaints and Board Governance Officer April 2015

3 Complaint Numbers per month Total complaints per locality for 2014/15 Specialist Services, and Children s Services generally received the highest number of complaints on a monthly basis throughout the year and this is supported by the totals for the year, in the above graph. Learnings from complaints are reported each month to the Quality and Risk Assurance Committee, and then to Trust Board, by way of the Quality and Risk Assurance report. They are not therefore repeated in this annual report. The annual submission to the Department of Health is attached as Appendix A. Prepared by Complaints and Board Governance Officer April 2015

4 Compliments Over 1,160 compliments were received from service users, their relatives and others during the year. Claims One potential clinical claim was received by the Trust during the year, and one potential public liability claim. The claim relates to chronic back pain, and involves two of the Trust s physiotherapists. The public liability claim relates to an appointment at the pain clinic (service run by NNUH) and the chair that the claimant was invited to sit on collapsed, causing soft tissue back injury. All claims have been reported to the NHSLA and are going through the claim process. Prepared by Complaints and Board Governance Officer April 2015

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