NHS complaints and advocacy: community event

On Thursday 14 November, we hosted an event with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) and local advocacy provider POhWER. This was an opportunity to discuss the NHS complaints system and how barriers can be removed to enable people to raise their concerns with confidence.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Approximately 80% of the complaints that the Ombudsman receive are health-related and this equates to over 120,000 complaints every year. PHSO Director and members of the Outreach and Engagement team at PHSO shared the main objectives of the Ombudsman. They include reducing barriers to their services by engaging more with advocacy groups to increase access to and trust in the service. They are also focusing on improving timeliness and the quality of their service and acting on people’s feedback to prevent incidents reoccurring.

To reach these objectives, the PHSO is working on creating easy read materials to increase accessibility, they are striving towards equity by using person-centred approaches and they are becoming more data-driven to understand the various demographic and geographic factors that affect people’s health. 

The PHSO also told us about their Complaints Champions Workshops – a series of free, 90-minute workshops designed to equip those working in the voluntary and civil society sectors with the knowledge and skills necessary to support service users in navigating the complaints journey.

Healthwatch and POhWER

Members of Healthwatch Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea and POhWER advocates shared their perspectives on the complaints process based on the issues that their service users have raised. 

Key themes that arose include the long complaints process which can be draining for many, fear of the possible consequences of making a complaint, being treated differently after making the complaint, not feeling listened to by NHS staff and the difficulty of navigating the complaints process particularly for individuals who do not speak English as a first language.

Public feedback

The second part of the event was an opportunity for members of the public who have previously been through the complaints process to speak directly with PHSO, Healthwatch and POhWER about their experience.

Involving the public in this discussion offered valuable insights into some of the issues that patients face when making a complaint. This includes waiting times for accessing advocacy, logistical barriers which make it difficult to access PHSO’s services and the NHS not always acknowledging or responding to complaints that are submitted.

The key takeaway points from this part of the discussion are that complaints enable organisations to continually improve their practices and standards and they empower people by giving them, and others who may not be able to raise a complaint, a voice to influence change.