Subject: Health and Social Care Complaints: An update from Healthwatch Wiltshire

Transcription

1 Wiltshire Council Health and Wellbeing Board 28 th January 2016 Subject: Health and Social Care Complaints: An update from Healthwatch Wiltshire Executive Summary In 2014, Healthwatch Wiltshire carried out a review of the local NHS and social care complaints system with a main focus on the NHS sector. This included speaking to local people about their experience of making a complaint or raising a concern as well as a review of the complaint handling processes employed by local acute trusts. The outcomes of this work along with some recommendations were detailed in our report: NHS and social care services in Wiltshire: Pathways to making a complaint or raising a concern. The report was presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board in September 2014 and the recommendations endorsed. The Board asked for an update on the current situation and progress as it relates to these recommendations. Proposals It is recommended that the Board: i. Recognise the progress which has been made by Healthwatch Wiltshire, the acute hospital trusts, and mental health trust during 2014/15 to ensure that the experience of making a complaint is improved for local people. ii. Note the opportunities for further improvement in the processes relating to making an NHS complaint or raising a concern. Reason for Proposals In 2014, Healthwatch Wiltshire carried out a review of the complaints pathway in Wiltshire. We listened to local people and heard from many, that sadly, their experience of navigating the system did not differ significantly from the national picture. People were unclear where to turn to when they have a concern of complaint and they have little trust or confidence in the system to deliver a satisfactory result or deal with the concern effectively. We wrote a report and made recommendations for providers and ourselves that included changes to process, practice and information provision that would deliver an overall improvement in the local complaints system and therefore people s experience of using it. This report forms an update on the work that has been carried out thus far as well as future plans. Page 1 of 5

2 Wiltshire Council Health and Wellbeing Board 28 th January 2016 Subject: Health and Social Care Complaints: An update from Healthwatch Wiltshire Key Decision: No Purpose of Report 1. The purpose of this report is to update the Board on the progress made in meeting the recommendations made in the Healthwatch Wiltshire (HWW) report: NHS and social care services in Wiltshire: Pathways to making a complaint or raising a concern. The reports concentrates predominantly on the progress made in the NHS system. Further work will be carried in social care over the coming year. Background 2. The right to complain about unsatisfactory service is a key consumer right. The NHS constitution makes a pledge to encourage and welcome feedback on health and care experiences and to use this feedback to improve services. 3. Healthwatch has an important role, set out in the legislation, to promote and amplify the voice of local people in the design of health and social care services and in monitoring the quality of those services. 4. In 2014 we carried out some research to gain a clearer picture of the NHS complaints system in Wiltshire. This involved talking to local people about their experiences and to Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Patient experience Managers about their processes. 5. We found that people were unclear about where to turn when they have a concern or complaint and that they have little trust or confidence in the system to deliver a satisfactory result or deal with the concern effectively. We also identified areas for improvement in processes and information provision. Main Considerations 6. HWW made a number of recommendations for health and social care providers. These were endorsed by the Health and Wellbeing Board. 7. In order to assess progress in meeting these recommendations, we have liaised with the three acute hospital trusts that serve the people of Page 2 of 5

3 Wiltshire as well as the mental health trust and NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group. It should be noted that the trusts are subject to other legislation/toolkits produced by both the Department of Health and the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman that pertains to the handling of complaints. This has also influenced their work. 8. Websites: Most of the trusts now have a link to their feedback/patient experience/pals information on the front page of their websites making it easier for people to find information quickly. The remaining trusts have information within two clicks. However, we would still recommend that some mention of feedback appears on the front (home) page. 9. Learning disabilities (LD): We recommended that trusts directly link to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman site Complain for Change. A dedicated resource to encourage those with LD to raise concerns. Only one Trust has a direct link however, some of the other Trusts have put requests into Web teams to embed this information. 10. All Trusts have complaints information leaflets for those with LD. However, some have no information on advocacy services or if it is there, it is sometimes out of date. 11. Children and Young People (CYP): We recommended CYP friendly information be available to encourage them to raise concerns. None of the Trusts have specific complaints leaflets for CYP. However, some had alternative methods (or these were in development) in place to allow CYP to feedback about services. For example, CYP friendly Friends and Family Cards and National Patient Surveys or regular real-time feedback opportunities where children and their families could speak directly to a Trust volunteer. Other Trusts did not feel that there was a need to provide such information as concerns are generally raised by parents. 12. HWW is working with young people, through Youth Action Wiltshire, throughout the next year. Young Listeners will be speaking with CYP about their experiences of health and social care across the county. This will include any experiences they have of raising concerns or making complaints about their care. We will feed this information back to providers where appropriate. 13. Innocent bystanders (IB): We recommended that trusts take seriously, concerns from IB and had volunteers in place to listen to patient feedback. Most trusts have IB information embedded in their policies and/or say that they would always follow up concerns raised by IB. Some Trusts have real time feedback volunteers or PALS officers who visit wards weekly to gather feedback although, not all Trusts feel that this has been a useful method for them in the past. 14. Sharing Information: All Trusts share complaints and quality information through publicly accessible board papers. HWW is provided with this information prior to it going into the public arena. Page 3 of 5

4 15. Sharing good practice: HWW recommended that providers come together periodically as a complaints liaison group to share good practice. HWW convened the first meeting in November This was attended by two of the acute hospital Trusts, the mental health Trust and Wiltshire NHS CCG including a patient representative from the CCG. The meeting was well received by all who attended. The group will continue to meet on a quarterly basis with the purpose of: Sharing good practice in complaints handling Discussing local issues arising in complaints handling Bringing in different groups e.g. other local Healthwatch, advocacy providers or GPs etc. to discuss specific issues, inform and build relationships. Building supportive relationships. A local peer-support network 16. At the request of PALS/Patient Experience Managers who attended the group, HWW has agreed to facilitate two learning workshops for PALS/Patient Experience staff from the Trusts. This will give them the opportunity to meet with patients who have experienced the complaints system and with PALS staff from different Trusts. 17. Information Provision: Healthwatch Wiltshire has worked with Wiltshire Council, acute trusts and the mental health Trusts to ensure that information relating to how to make a health or social care complaint is on the new information website: Your Care Your Support Wiltshire (YCYSW): In addition, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) have created British Sign Language (BSL) videos to explain various services within the Trust. One of these videos relates to the PALS service. They have kindly agreed for us to share this video on YCYSW. In addition, HWW are working on an infographic that will detail the journey of a complaint so that people can easily see the pathway of their complaint. 18. HWW involvement in national work on complaints. Healthwatch England (HWE) believe that we need wholescale reform and culture change to create a system that is simple, seamless and stressfree from people s perspective and offer meaningful resolution. To these ends they have developed a 7-point action plan that has been sent to the Secretary of State for Health: ( ry_complaint_matters_-_action_plan.pdf). In addition, they wish to carry out a stocktake of all of the work that is being carried out on complaints throughout the local Healthwatch network. This information, will feed into a new working group that will be convened by HWE to help them develop ideas for the kind of support they can provide to the local network in terms of improving complaints handling in local areas. HWW will share its work with HWE and take an active part in the working group. 19. NHS Complaints Advocacy: HWW has committed to a plan that will involve working closely with SEAP (the provider of the service for Wiltshire people). This includes the two-way sharing of quarterly anonymised data Page 4 of 5

5 reports (SEAP) and anonymised information on the issues received from members of the public (HWW). HWW and SEAP meet on a quarterly basis to reconcile and report on themes and trends information. HWW regularly signpost and refer (with consent) relevant individuals to SEAP. 20. As part of its original report HWW made a number of recommendations for itself about future work. Therefore, over the coming year, we will be looking more closely at the complaints process in primary care as well as the experiences of CYP and those with LD. We will also be exploring different ways for the provision of information relating to raising a concern or making a complaint about health and social care. 21. In summary, there has been progress in improving both the complaints process and information provision for local people in relation to NHS complaints. However, further developments are required to ensure that the complaints handling process is fit for purpose. We believe that the new complaints liaison group is a positive step and a useful forum in which to discuss and recommend any further developments. Financial Implications 22. There are no direct financial implications for the Health and Wellbeing Board. Health and Wellbeing Board Member Christine Graves Chair, Healthwatch Wiltshire Presenting Officer Dr Sara Nelson Information and Communications Manager Healthwatch Wiltshire Supporting documents: The HWW complaints report can be found here: mplaints_report_sept_14_1.pdf Page 5 of 5