NHS complaints process for Primary Care
We wanted to find out how easy or hard it was to find information about complaints
Healthwatch England have recently published a report which looks at complaints and warns people face many barriers to making a complaint about NHS healthcare.
Key findings from the report
- Very few patients complain
- Low confidence stops people acting
- A poor complaints experience is common
- Falling investment in support to help people complain
- People experience long waits for responses
- The NHS is not effectively learning lessons
What have we done locally
We have also been looking at complaints and the information available for people when they look on their GP website.
What we found
- 50% found searching for the complaints process not so easy or not at all easy
- 45% did not feel that they were confident they would be able to make a complaint
- 60% said that it felt good to be on the website, indicating that the websites were clear and welcoming.
- 40% said it didn’t feel good to be on the website, indicating that they might feel unclear or anxious.
We have found ways that could improve the information currently available for members of the public including:
- Making the process clearer – what happens next when you make a complaint?
- Have clear links to the complaints process on the website
- Make the website engaging and easy to access for all
Next steps
This report will be sent to the ICB Complaints and communications department for consideration.
Downloads
Download the report
