Patients fear being victimised for complaining to NHS

A report has warned that patients are being made to feel frightened when making complaints to the NHS, many being confronted by hostile staff who denied having done anything wrong. Others feared that if they pursued the complaint, they would be treated even worse out of spite.

The report, put together by charity The Patients Association, found that 50% of complaints were handled poorly and also warned that the secrecy culture within the NHS had hardly changed since the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal, when hundreds of patients died because of neglect.

Although an inquiry led by Sir Robert Francis QC 18 months ago called for extensive reforms to make the Health Service more transparent, the charity says that patient experience has shown that there has so far been little evidence of a change in the culture.

Every week, over 3,300 complaints are made by patients and their families against GP surgeries and NHS hospitals.

The Patients Association surveyed 1,200 complainants. Nearly half of these complaints were poorly handled and a quarter of those surveyed said that staff had been defensive or unhelpful. Over 50% were not happy with the final outcome and a third were ‘very dissatisfied’.

Chief Executive of The Patients Association Katherine Murphy said “Patients continue to face huge barriers when complaining. There is little evidence of the promised total culture shift in the NHS. Much more needs to be done to ensure patients, relatives and carers feel confident, supported and their concerns welcomed.”

The report adds “It is a sad indictment of our NHS that patients, relatives and carers continue to find making a complaint an uncomfortable and distressing process.”

The charity is calling on all NHS hospitals to bring in a set of basic rules to make raising concerns easier for patients.

The General Medical Council yesterday told doctors and nurses to own up to mistakes and to be more honest.

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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