Reviews / 2013
Putting Patients Back in the Picture: a review of the NHS hospitals complaints system
Rt Hon Ann Clwyd MP and Professor Tricia Hart · work from 2013 · published 2013
What this was
Review of how hospitals handle complaints, commissioned alongside the Francis response. It heard from patients who found the process exhausting, defensive and detached from learning.
Why it sits in the hub
Complaints are the signal families can actually send. A decade later, Dash and the 10 Year Health Plan were still calling for faster, more serious complaint handling.
Findings
Finding 1
People complained too late, waited too long, and rarely saw the service change as a result.
Recommendations in this hub
Paraphrase of the public recommendations, not the official text.
- 1Partly doneHospital trusts
Make boards own complaint themes, and publish what they changed.
- 2Partly doneGovernment
Improve advocacy and the speed of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman route.