Complaints to Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals fall for fourth year running, to new low

A report which will go to before the Board of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) tomorrow shows that in the last financial year, the Trust received 317 formal complains – a 15% fall from 377 on the previous year.

In the last four years the number of formal complaints has more than halved.

The report follows the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) 2015 Survey of Adult Inpatients, which showed that SaTH was the third most improved Trust in the country, with improvements in nearly 75% of areas, including results which were among the best in the country.

Sarah Bloomfield, Director of Nursing and Quality at SaTH, said: “Over the last two years the Trust has been more proactive in encouraging patients, families and carers to give their feedback, enabling staff to resolve concerns as they arise.

“This has resulted in concerns being resolved at a much earlier stage rather than the need to make a formal complaint and has led to a continued downward trend in the number of formal complaints received.”

The Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers an ‘on the spot’ service to patients, relatives and carers and is often the first point of contact for members of the public who wish to raise concerns about their care or seek advice. During the year, PALS has assisted 1,957 people in resolving concerns about their care.

In addition to the feedback the Trust receives through PALS, patients and relatives can share their views of the hospitals and their care on the NHS Choices website. During the year, there were 166 comments shared on NHS Choices about the Trust, with 75% of patients sharing details of their positive experience, compared with just 14% who had a negative experience.

Sarah said: “It is encouraging to see that the majority of positive comments praised staff for the high standard of care received, which reflects the findings of our inspection by the Care Quality Commission, which was published last year.”

Patients said staff:
• Were attentive, kind, professional and caring
• Go the extra mile and went out of their way to accommodate a patient with learning difficulties to enhance their experience
• Provided support and comfort to families following the loss of a loved one
• Made patients feel important
• Took time to explain everything

Patients said the Trust needed to improve:
• The length of time patients wait for an appointment
• The number of outpatients appointments cancelled
• The number of times that patients are given conflicting information

In addition to the feedback given via NHS Choices and the Trust’s website, 115 letters of thanks and appreciation were received by the Chief Executive during the year. This is in addition to the cards and letters sent to wards and individual members of staff. Each letter received by the Chief Executive is acknowledged and a copy of the letter sent to the ward, department or individual involved.

The Trust is required to acknowledge all complaints, either verbally or in writing, within three working days of receipt, in accordance with statutory regulations and achieved 100% compliance last year. The Trust also responded to 90% of complaints within the timescale initially agreed. Where delays occurred, regular contact was made with the patient/family to keep them updated.

Sarah said: “We recognise the importance of learning from complaints and using the valuable feedback obtained to reflect on the care we provide and take steps to improve services for future patients.

“When service improvements are identified following investigation of a complaint, staff now develop action plans that are monitored until complete.

“We know there are more things we can do, but these results are encouraging and we will continue to work hard towards a further fall in the number of formal complaints in the next 12 months and beyond.”