The Importance of Good Communication in Complaints Caroline Kerby Director of Strategic Development – Harness Care National Executive Committee – NHS Alliance

The role of communication in complaints All complaints involve communication Poor communication will escalate a complaint It is essential not just to hear but to listen to complainants Good communication is essential both internally and externally Increasingly important to communication how learning from complaints is applied

Size of communication factor in UK? Errors in communication were behind one third of hospital complaints in 2014-15 Non medical aspects such as attitude and the quality and accuracy of information featured in half 71% of complaints were about the hospital and its staff 29% were between departments or external providers General practice is more likely to only focus on clinical aspects than hospitals or dental practices

Importance of proactive communication For practices to learn from feedback, concerns and complaints, they need to encourage feedback in all its forms and ensure people are told how to make a complaint as well as being signposted to sources of advice and support.'    Parliamentary Health Ombudsman

How Care Quality Commission view responsiveness Practice A had 2 complaints in a 12 month period Practice B had 32 complaints in a 12 month period Who was outstanding and who was inadequate? “A service that is safe, responsive and well-led will treat feedback, concerns and complaints as an opportunity to improve”

Communication is a two way activity “sometimes practices fail to understand what the individual expects as a result of their feedback, perhaps owing to a lack of experience in dealing with feedback, concerns and complaints, making it very difficult to manage patient expectations, sometimes causing issues to worsen” 

Key factors in effective complaints handling Get it right Be customer focussed Be open and accountable Act fairly and proportionately Put things right Seek continuous improvement

Strong leadership Leading by example communicates commitment of the organisations to quality and improvement Communicates the values of the organisation Support for staff through complaints Communicate ownership of the policy and processes Set tone of importance put on feedback to all staff

A listening culture invites feedback Outstanding examples (CQC) The practice left a “You said – We did” card on every home visit to ensure all patients were kept informed of how feedback was use to improve care and invite patients to provide feedback

“An apology is not an invitation to litigation or a sign of organisational weakness” Parliamentary Ombudsman

Hints and tips Simple, clear policy and procedure that is well communicated to staff and service users Speed of acknowledging and dealing with a complaint – keeping all parties informed and aim to keep to agree timeframe or communicate unavoidable delays Listening and seeking clarification – explain issues such as data protection Good coordination between parties Clear expectation of what can be achieved Clear explanation of decisions, remedies and learning Good and consistent record keeping Open and accessible irrespective of diversity, background or circumstance – explain why similar complaints may have different outcome