45 people booked for our event and 35 attended with a good mix of staff and public members. Click here for the programme for the evening. 

The aim of the first part of the event was to initially inform attendees about the national changes, our local process and to highlight the areas that we can influence locally. Click here for the presentations. 

The second part of the evening was devoted to small group work during which the views and suggestions of participants was sought with respect to three of the five questions - click here for the questions. These focus on the areas locally we seek to influence changes in light of patient and member feedback. The feedback from each of the four groups has been collected and is in the process of being analysed. A summary of the feedback will be posted as it becomes available.   

We received 21 completed evaluation forms from the evening and we are pleased the feedback has been very positive. 

• 20 out of 21 responses received said they would definitely be willing to attend another event
• 21 people said they found the evening informative (13) or very informative (8)
• 21 people responded they either welcomed the opportunity (13) to be involved or welcomed it very much (8)
• 18 people said they enjoyed the event - three people did not answer this question.

We would like to thank everyone who attended on the 17 June for your valuable contribution. The Trust values your views and suggestions which will feed into the process of refreshing our process and policy. 

If you have any queries please phone (01494) 734149.

Feedback from event:

Participants in the workshops were given a variety of ways of providing comments and suggestions about the current complaints policy - this feedback can be broken down into the following key areas:

Making contact with the Trust:

Initial contact with the Trust is key for not only complaints and concerns but also for compliments, comments and any other feedback. One single point of contact with one phone number was seen as the best option. It should be easily identifiable and there was a suggestion that it be named patient feedback or something similar to cover all types of issue. There were concerns about having one phone number as there may not be sufficient staff to cover at all times and answerphones were not considered to always be helpful. It was felt very important that staff taking the initial call should be fully trained to deal with all kinds of issues and should be prepared to listen and understand. They should give confidence that the complaint will be dealt with in an efficient manner. It is also important that the opportunity to discuss the options available with the complainant be taken at this initial stage and it was suggested that a flowchart could be used to demonstrate the process. It would be at this point that timelines and outcomes would be discussed and meetings offered if appropriate. All written complaints should be acknowledged promptly and the options available provided in the response.

The complaints process:

Complainants should be provided with the details of the staff member dealing with their complaint or concern and a name of someone else they could contact if that person was not available. It was also seen as essential that there be regular updates on the progress of the complaint, although the frequency and method would need to be decided with the complainant as some would not appreciate a call just to state that there had been no progress to date. Timescales were not seen as important as a thorough investigation being conducted with a quality response provided as a result. However, once agreed the timescales should be adhered to as much as possible and it is important that any expectations set are achievable. Overall it was felt that there should be choice on how a complaint is handled and that staff should be more proactive with senior staff calling complainants direct and attending  complaint meetings. The final response must include an apology and an explanation and must be open and honest at all times. A key message was that complainants should be treated as individuals.

Learning from complaints:

It was seen as vital that the Trust learn from complaints, comments, concerns and just as importantly from compliments which would provide evidence of good practice for sharing across the organisation shared. Response letters should contain actions taken as a result of the complaint and learning from complaints should be publicised on the Trust website. It was also suggested that the Trust should consider having an exit survey for all patients to encourage feedback.

Summary of event:

The event provided feedback that will go towards informing the Trust’s review of its current policy and procedures. The key messages from the event were as follows:

• one contact point for complaints, concerns, compliments, comments and feedback
  Action taken - PALS to be the main contact point across the Trust for any concerns and complaints being made in person or by telephone.  There will be the two main PALS numbers offered to the public and the website and leaflets will be updated. Work on this will start in April 2011
• provide a variety of options on how complaints can be handled
  Action taken - this is already in place but will be strengthened as the other process changes are completed
• keep in touch throughout the process
  Action taken - this forms part of the new process and will be piloted in April
• quality of responses more important than timescales
  Action taken - the categorisation of complaints as part of the triage process will allow this to happen. New process will be piloted in April
• learning from complaints very important and should be shared with the complainant and across the Trust
  Action taken - the new process is being piloted in April and the responses will include the action plans drawn up as part of the investigation
• responses should be open and honest and have a full explanation and apology
  Action taken - this is already in place but will be strengthened by the new process
• look at best practice in other organisations which handle complaints and learn from their example
  Action taken - ongoing