Complaints and Compliments - How far we have come…

Since my manager’s blog in March 2014 about the new ways of working in  investigating complaints (the team now covers many aspects of patient experience), I thought I would see how where we are in terms of numbers of complaints and compliments about our services.  

This time last year we had received 210 complaints, this year its 176 - a decrease of 46 complaints! It seems that putting focus into swift and local resolution, holding PALS surgeries on the wards as well as the PALS Advice line and providing alternative feedback systems such as Real Time Feedback mean that people are not forced down the formal complaints if they simply want to send in feedback or have something resolved quickly  We have various ways to feedback including cards, verbal, emails, Care Connect, Real Time Feedback kiosk’s and tablets as well as Patient Opinion.

Our focus this year has also been to encourage staff to send their compliments for central logging so we can capture what is being said – this has resulted in an increase the number of compliments, this time last year we received 64, this year so far we have received 364 – an increase of 300 compliments!

Good to know we are heading in the direction….

Claire Reid, Governance Administrator – PALS and Complaints