Boss of NHS trust says handling of complaints ‘not good enough’

The boss of a Nottinghamshire NHS trust says the way it handles complaints made by people under its care is “not good enough” after further concerns were raised by a councillor.

In February a major review, commissioned by NHS England, found numerous failings in his care under the trust.

- Advertisement -

During a Nottingham City Council Health Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday (March 20), the trust gave an update on changes to engagement with patients, their carers, and families, as part of work to improve quality and safety.

Cllr Georgia Power (Lab), chair of the committee, said she is still being contacted by patients saying their complaints are not being handled correctly.

She said incorrect language was still being used, despite promises by the trust.

Concerns were also raised about Sherwood Oaks, a 70-bed hospital that provides accommodation and two ‘places of safety’ – known as section 136 suites – for people over the age of 18.

“When people find out they have complained they get treated differently by staff, and I think that is still a barrier to people complaining,” Cllr Power said.

“I’ve seen copies of medical records where [patients] have been discussed as a ‘serial complainer’.

“I know when you came previously I gave you an example of when someone complained to Care Opinion about their care in Cassidy suite, being denied medical treatment when they had a broken arm through a restraint, not being given medication, not being given water, and not being given toilet roll.”

Cllr Power said in May last year a patient had contacted her to say the trust had attempted to stop them from complaining about their care.

She claimed a patient was asked to sign a document to say they would not contact Care Opinion, the UK’s independent non-profit feedback platform for health and social care, or the CQC, with negative feedback.

“I had four more people come after that to say they had major complaints about either the Cassidy suite or the 136 suite at Sherwood Oaks, saying they’d also been asked to sign acceptable phone usage contracts, or they would have their phone taken off them,” she said in the meeting on Thursday.

Ifti Majid, chief executive of the trust, admitted the organisiation is not proud of how it has handled some complaints.

“It is not good enough because people are complaining because we are not meeting their needs,” he said.

Cllr Power raised further concerns over the trust’s work to improve, arguing it was “process heavy and not really about outcomes”.

She also raised issue with the trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), which answers queries, liaises with trust staff to resolve problems and assist people in making complaints.

“There’s a question about how you deal with historic complaints,” she added.

“I know the response from PALS is that they, other than in exceptional circumstances, only deal with complaints that happened in the last 12 months.

“I understand that, but I think there is a reason for exceptional circumstances here. We know patients haven’t been listened to.

“Some of those will be about learning from care and putting things right, some of that might have been so long ago it has changed and is hopefully not relevant any more, but those people still need to feel they’ve been listened to.

“I get contacted by one person a day about their experience of the trust. If people are contacting me [then] something isn’t working, because they shouldn’t be finding me to contact me.”

Mr Majid added: “I happen to agree with you about historical complaints because I think people deserve [to be listened to].

“We will take it away and reinforce [it]. We need to be embracing that feedback.”

•  Rampton Hospital: Staffing ‘still stretched’ after nurse recruitment success