NHS Complaints
The NHS Complaints system can be a powerful force for making things better, both for individual complainants and for the wider NHS, thus creating a culture of learning from mistakes and putting things right - a key objective for the NHS in Scotland.
Complaints about the NHS are a valuable way of identifying issues in the service where change is needed. Acknowledging these issues and taking steps to rectify any problems is vital to create an open and honest NHS. Complaints should be welcomed with a positive attitude and valued as feedback on service performance, driven by the search for improvement in the organisation and not the appointment of blame.
The complaints system requires for the whole organisation to value and take ownership of complaints received. Front-line staff, managers and executive officers all need to have defined responsibilities in welcoming and learning from complaints, in order to make a complaints management process truly effective. It is crucial that complaints intelligence feeds directly back into service improvements.
Patients or perhaps a relative on behalf of a patient can make a complaint if they feel dissatisfied with any aspect of their episode of care or other factors such as facilities or the place they are seen in. There is an incredibly wide variation in the type of contacts that patients have with the NHS - such as treatment as an Inpatient, Outpatient, A&E attendance, donation of blood or transportation by ambulance, to name but a few. Each year, for example there are approximately 4.5m outpatient attendances and over 2m ambulance transportations in NHS Scotland.
Complaints received by the NHS are a relatively rare occurrence. In 2008/09, there were 6,904 complaints received about Hospital & Community Services. For Family Health Services, we estimate 3,175 complaints received in 2008/09. It should be noted that we are currently working with NHS Highland to confirm their Family Health Services aggregate return for 2008/09 and in the interim have based an estimate on their previous two years data.
NHS Boards and other NHS organisations submit summary information about complaints they receive to ISD Scotland. The data covers complaints received by Hospital & Community Services and Family Health Services . The data submitted to ISD includes all formal written complaints. We recognise that there has been variation in recording practice across Scotland and some NHS Boards / organisations also include telephone and other formal oral complaints in their submission to ISD. To address the consistency of recording practices adopted by NHS Boards and organisations across Scotland, ISD have rolled out Changes to the NHS Complaints Dataset.
The NHS complaints procedure was introduced in April 1996, with a subsequent revision in April 2005 - with the purpose of providing a simple, flexible, impartial and easily accessible system for the public as well as being fair to NHS practitioners and staff.
Current Complaints Procedure
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Independant Advice and Support Service
Current Complaints Procedure
The current NHS complaints procedure was established in April 1996 and was last revised in April 2005. At that time the Independent Review stage was removed to enable a faster process and to allow the introduction of independent scrutiny at an earlier point. Any individual who cannot get a complaint resolved on a local level can turn to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman's Office. The system also makes provision for those wishing to complaint about their GP without initially having to contact their GP. In these circumstances, they may contact their Board complaints officer in the first instance.
Prior to review, an evaluation of the NHS Complaints Procedure was carried out. This was a thorough UK wide project led by the Department of Health in England with a Scottish Advisory Group of complaints personnel and patients' representatives set up to oversee the Scottish evaluation. The evaluation report has been published and can be found at the Scottish Executive website at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/health/nhscomplaints.pdf
The Scottish Perspective pre-consultation document can also be found on the Scottish Executive website at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/health/nhscomplaints_summ.pdf
Further details on the current Complaints Procedure can be found at:
"Can I help you? Learning from comments, concerns and complaints"
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
If a complainant remains dissatisfied with the response from the normal complaint process, there is recourse to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman who provides a 'one-stop-shop' for individuals making complaints about organisations providing public services in Scotland. 
www.spso.org.uk
Independent Advice and Support Service (IASS)
Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland are now funded by local NHS Boards to deliver the Independent Advice and Support Service (IASS). IASS aims to support patients, their carers and relatives in their dealings with the NHS and in other matters affecting their health.
www.cas.org.uk/healthcomplaints.aspx
Richard Dobbie
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