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New report sheds light on
Top Hospital complaints investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman
A report published recently has
revealed that, similar to 2014, the top 3 reasons for Hospital complaints
investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in the last
financial year (2014 to 201515) were poor communication, errors in diagnosis and
poor treatment.
Non-medical aspects of patient care are cited as a factor in almost
˝ of all complaints investigated by the Parliamentary
and Health Service Ombudsman.
Poor communication, including quality and accuracy of information, was a factor
in ⅓ of all complaints.
Other reasons for complaints in this period included staff attitude and
behaviour, which were factors in 2 out of 10 complaints.
The report outlines how many unresolved complaints the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman investigated for every acute trust in England and the final
decision made.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said:- "We know
that there are many factors that influence the number of complaints Hospitals
receive, such as organisational size, demographics and whether they actively
encourage feedback from patients. I strongly believe that NHS leaders should
welcome feedback from patients and recognise the opportunities that good
complaint handling offers to improve the services they provide. We are
publishing this data to help Hospital Trusts identify problems and take action
to ensure trust in the healthcare system remains high."
The report compares the number of complaints the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman investigates to the size of each trust. The size of the Trust
is determined by the number of 'clinical incidents' such as
outpatient appointments, elective surgery and emergency admissions the trust has
carried out. This shows how likely a trust is to receive a complaint about its
service.
The report reveals that the number of enquiries the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman has received and investigated about acute trusts, increased in
2014 to 2015, compared to 2013 to 2014:-
► In 2014 to 15, it received 21,371 enquiries about the NHS, compared to 18,870,
in 2013 to 2014.
► Of these enquiries, 8,853 were about acute trusts in 2014 to 2015, compared to
8,178, in 2013 to 2014.
► It completed 1,652 investigations about acute trusts in 2014 to 2015, compared
to 852, in 2013 to 2014. This rise can largely be explained by the Parliamentary
and Health Service Ombudsman in 2013 to 2015 changing the way it handles
complaints to undertake more investigations, resulting in it now completing ten
times as many investigations in 2014 to 2015 than in 2012 to 2013. It completed
384 investigations, in 2012 to 2013 and 4,159 investigations, in 2014 to 2015.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman makes final decisions on
complaints which haven't been resolved locally by the NHS in England. In 2014 to
2015 it upheld 36% of the cases it investigated about the NHS and 44% about
acute trusts.
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