2022-23 Annual Complaints Report

Annual Complaints Report

2022/23

Responsive

Caring

Safe

Effective

Well Led

1.1 - Introduction

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust values the importance of both positive and negative feedback from patients, carers and families and have continued to use this feedback as an effective measure of our patient experience, as well as an opportunity to learn from and bring about change within the services that we provide. We recognise it is important that there is an effective complaints system in place which enables health organisations to learn from complaints in order to improve patient experience. The NHS Complaints Regulations sets out a complaints process with two stages: local resolution (carried out by the NHS body) and, if the complainant remains dissatisfied, referral to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Our complaints process is patient focused and driven, with a great emphasis on personal contact with the complainant to aid resolution and ensure regulatory timescales are adhered to. This report aims to provide the reader with an overview of the complaints received in 2022/23, and also highlights the learning and changes made throughout the year, which we hope will have a positive impact on our patients journey.

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2.1 – Complaints review

In 2022/23, The Christie received 171 Formal Complaints. This is a 21% increase in the number of complaints received in comparison to the previous financial year. T he chart below shows a comparison of complaints received over previous financial years:

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2.2 – Complaints review

The graphs below show the number of complaints received by each division per financial quarter. Where complaints involve a number of divisions, only the lead division is recorded.

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2.3 – Complaints review

All new complaints are reviewed weekly by the Executive Directors and are triaged through an executive review process so that there is a triangulation between incidents, claims and complaints. All issues within a complaint are logged separately, so they can easily be depicted for lessons learning purposes.

736 issues were raised within the 171 complaints received during this year.

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3.1 – Complaints resolution

We contact each complainant in order to fully understand their issues and to agree the type of response they wish to receive. This may be a written response or resolution meeting, where all the issues are addressed.

167 Formal Complaints were responded in 2022/23.

The table below outlines how each of those 167 complaints were resolved:

Upheld Withdrawn Total

Not upheld Partially upheld

5

3

1

0

1

Resolution meeting Written response

59 60

38 38

7 162 8 167

58 61

Total

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4.1 – Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman referrals

Complainants have the right to refer their case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if they are not satisfied it has been resolved by the Trust.

One complaint was referred to the PHSO between April 2022 and March 2023. This case is currently being investigated and we await the outcome of the same.

We currently have two open complaints with the PHSO overall.

No PHSO investigations have been concluded in the financial year 2022/23.

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5.1 – Complaints Survey

As of 1 st April 2023, the process for sending out complaint questionnaires has resumed, and this will now be done using a QR code embedded within our final complaint response letters. This will provide easy access by our complainants to an interactive form on the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) page of The Christie’s external website. We hope that this will increase the feedback we receive so that we can continue to improve on how we handle complaints going into the new Financial Year. Patient’s can submit feedback by scanning the below QR code or visiting https://www.christie.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/patient-advice-and-liaison service-pals: https://www.christie.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/patient-advice-and-liaison-service pals

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6.1 – Learning from Complaints in 2022/23 The Complaints Procedure was initially created to allow Trust’s to recognise when a patient’s care has gone wrong and to use this experience to learn and make improvements to ensure that the care and treatment provided for everyone accessing the service is optimised. Complaints are a valuable source of feedback and a huge opportunity to bring about positive change within the services that we provide. In addition to sharing complaints directly with the staff involved in the care, complaints are also shared at directorate governance meetings, Quality Assurance Committee and Trust Board. The following table highlights some of the positive action that has been initiated as part of the lessons learned from ‘upheld’ formal complaints for this financial year: Issues Actions taken Evidence Patient raised a complaint that the cashiers office at The Christie is permanently closed and it is taking 3 months for travel expenses to be reimbursed. Finance to update Switchboard with correct contact details to ensure patients are passed through to the correct team for travel expenses. Latest contact list for Financial Services sent to Switchboard with instructions on how to contact cashiers office for travel expenses going forward. Patient raised a complaint about the lack of capacity for emotional support from Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in one particular disease group. Increase CNS presence in related clinic to be able to offer increased support to patients. New disease specific CNS employed during 2023. Patient concerned that they received another patient's letter with test results along with letter. Secretary to be reminded of the Patient Identification policy and the importance of checking patient details before sharing information. Process logged as an incident and Secretary re-educated on process.

Patient concerned that there was an abnormality in blood test results that were not acted upon.

Process under review for how clinicians receive blood tests

Process discussed at consultant meeting – clinicians to review all blood tests on the day received and redirect to correct clinician if required. Supplies are now available for all staff on the Unit when/if needed. Reminder sent to the team to ensure appointment cancellations are conveyed to administrative staff so contact can be made with patients promptly.

Patient concerned regarding the provision of equipment to support the care of patients with Nasal Feeding tube. Patient concerned that appointment was cancelled without patient being informed and reception staff were not made aware.

Ensure a supply of pH kits, sterile water and syringes readily available should any patients with additional feeding needs require these while on the unit.

Improve booking-in process to ensure better communication between teams

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7.1 – Developments for 2023/24

The following key objectives have been set in relation to complaints handling for 2023/24:

• Implement a ‘Traffic light’ system to ensure close monitoring of complaint response timescales in accordance with the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.

• Use feedback contained in the satisfaction surveys to continuously learn and improve the complaints function.

• Improve on how we learn from complaints and disseminate that learning Trust-Wide.

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