Complaining about health and social care services must be made easier as the current process is too ‘bewildering’ for people, according to Healthwatch England.
The consumer champion said that the current system is too complex with less than half of those who had a bad experience reporting it to the authorities. It found a ‘staggering’ 75 different types of organisations have a role in handling complaints.
Anna Bradley, chair of Healthwatch England, said: ‘It’s no wonder the public are left confused and frustrated. With so many organisations involved it’s difficult to know where to start, let alone having the strength and persistence to navigate the system on your own.
‘A key improvement would be a straightforward and independent advocacy service to provide the support people need to make their voices heard.
‘There will need to be very significant change in the complaints system if it is to benefit from the intelligence and insight that complaints can offer and use it to drive real improvement for the people actually using services.’
Research found that only one in ten people who made a complaint ending up entering the formal complaints process, suggesting the system is failing to learn from nine out of ten bad experiences.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman agreed the current system is too complex and is calling for a single Public Ombudsman Service for all complaints, including those for health and social care.
Julie Mellor from the Ombudsman said: ‘We are working with Healthwatch England and the Local Government Ombudsman to help people create a vision of what the public can expect from the complaints system that would transform their experiences of raising concerns.’
