Supporting the person making the complaint All members of the community have the right to equal access to our complaints handling procedure. People who do not have English as a first language may need help with interpretation and translation services, and others may have specific needs that we will seek to address to ensure easy access to the complaints handling procedure. We must always respect human rights and take into account our commitment and responsibilities to equality as defined within the Equality Act (2010). This includes making reasonable adjustments to our services where appropriate. Several support and advocacy groups are available to support peopleto pursue a complaint and they should be signposted to these as appropriate. Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) The Patient Rights Act provided for the establishment of the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS). PASS operates independently of the NHS, and provides free, confidential information, advice and support to anyone who uses the NHS in Scotland.The service promotes an awareness and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of patients and can advise and support people who wish to give feedback, make comments, raise concerns or make complaints about treatment and care provided. Further information can be found on the PASS web site: [The organisationmay provide further guidance or examples in relation to arrangements to support people who complain and local contact details. This can be inserted here or can be included in an annex to this document.] Time limit for making complaints It is recognised that it is not always possible to make a complaint immediately. In clinical complaints, for example, a complication or other issue may not become apparent for sometime after the procedure. Similarly the grief associated with the death of someone may make it difficult for their representatives or family members to deal with a complaint in the period immediately after the death. Given the difficulties that the passage of time can make to the resolution of a complaint the timescale for accepting a complaint as set out in the regulations is within six months from the date on which the matter of the complaint comes to the person's notice, provided that this is also no later than 12 months after the date on which the matter of the complaint occurred. The timescale for acceptance of a complaint may be extended if the Feedback and Complaints Officer considers it be reasonable in the circumstances.Where a decision
is taken not to extend the timescales a clear explanation of the basis for the decision should be provided to the person making the complaint, and the person should be advised that they may ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to consider the decision. Appendix 1: Complaints The following tables give examples of complaints that may be considered at the early resolution stage, and suggest possible actions to achieve resolution. Complaint Possible actions to achieve resolution The complaint relates to clinical treatment. The person is unhappy that several attempts to draw blood were not successfully completed, and that there was a lack of pain management to address her discomfort. Apologise for the pain and discomfort caused. Explain the appropriate procedure for taking blood and agree with the person making the complaint how this will be approached in the future. Perhaps ensure that an experienced person draws the blood, and ensure suitable pain management is available if needed. The complaint relates to clinical treatment. The person disagrees with care plan and wants it evaluated by an independent clinician. Thank the person for bringing this matter to your attention. Confirm with them their reasons for disagreeing with the care plan.Explain the process for developing a care plan and the fact that you will check how this was applied in this case. with appropriate staff to ensure the care plan accurately reflects the agreed care needs, and addresses any issues raised by the person. Explain to the person the action you have taken, and the basis for the care plan. If the person continues to disagree with your response, advise them that the complaint will be escalated to stage 2 of the complaints procedure for further investigation. The complaint relates to a lack of privacy during visiting hours. The person complained that visitors to the patient in the bed next to her could overhear Apologise for the distress felt by the person.Advise her of the normal procedure for discussing her medical condition with her.Explain the action you will take to ensure that this situation is not repeated,
she was advised to purchase a bottle of water from the shop within the hospital complex. what the options will be to access drinking water in the future. appropriate, signpost within the waiting areas, to explain how people may get access to drinking water. The complaint relates to car parking within the hospital grounds. The person is unhappy with the parking fees charged by the hospital. Thank the person for bringing this matter to your attention. Explain the Board, or hospital policy on car parking, and where appropriate advise on alternative areas for parking or how people may use public transport in appropriate cases. Finally explain that the Board takes all complaints seriously and that information from complaints is analysed and used to inform policies and procedures moving forward. The complaint relates to the catering services for patients. The person is unhappy that, despite notifying nurses that she is a vegetarian, no vegetarian meal was provided at dinner time. When she asked for a vegetarian meal she was advised that the kitchen was unable to provide one, and she was offered a salad sandwich as an alternative. the person for bringing the complaint to you. Apologise, acknowledging that there has been a failing and expressing empathy for the situation the person was in. Explain the normal protocol for ensuring all dietary requirements are met, and the action that you will now take to ensure that a vegetarian meal is always provided for her.Thereafter, follow up with the her to ensure that the situation has been satisfactorily resolved and her dietary needs are being properly met. The complaint relates to property. The person alleges that his dressing gown was removed from his bedside unit, and is now missing. Thank the person for bringing the matter to your attention. Apologise, recognising the distress that the loss of the dressing gown will have caused. Offer to provide a hospital replacement gown in the meantime.Explain the action you will take to try and locate the dressing gown, and where appropriate, signpost him to the process for claiming for lost property.
complain, but he is unhappy about his treatment. Provide a full detailed response advising why a decision to amputate was taken following what was considered to have been simple routine surgery. If the person comes back to say that they remain unhappy with this response, the matter should then be handled at stage 2 of the complaints procedure, with the person being signposted to SPSO if they remain dissatisfied with the subsequent response. Prior to an operation eight months ago, the person had expressed fear to a number of staff that she would not have sufficient pain management. Despite these concerns being raised she experienced considerable pain after the operation. She now has concerns regarding a forthcoming operation. She wanted her pain to be managed more effectively than when she had underwent the same operation previously. Explain to the person that the first operation was unsuccessful and therefore has to be performed a second time. Reassure her that her concerns about pain management have been noted and that medical staff will do all they possibly can to effectively manage any post-operative pain. A patient suffers from a recurring problem with infections. This has been the case for several years. He is unhappy that his GP has refused to prescribe him another course of antibiotics. The GP meets with the person to understand the reasons for his dissatisfaction, and to explain the basis for the decision not to continually prescribe antibiotics. The GP may arrange for further tests if appropriate. Appendix 3: Feedback, Comments, Concerns or Complaints Assessment Matrix The person bringing the issue to your attention may be very clear from the outset that they do not want to complain. If however, the matter meets the definition of a complaint, the person should be offered an explanation that complaints provide valuable information that allow organisations to learn and improve services. Where it is not clear, after discussion with the person bringing the matter, whether it should be recorded as feedback, a comment, a complaint, or a concern, the matrix below may help you to arrive at the appropriate decision.
Timelines at the early resolution stage You must aim to achieve early resolution within five working days. The day you receive the complaint is day 1. Where you receive it on a non-working day, for example at the weekend or on a public holiday, day 1 will be the next working day. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 1: Day complaint received by the organisation, or next working day if day of receipt is a non-working day. Day 5: Early resolution achieved or complaint escalated to the investigation stage. The date of receipt will be determined by the organisation's arrangements for receiving and dating of mail and other correspondence.] Extension to the five-day timeline If you have extended the timeline at the early resolution stage in line with the procedure, the revised timetable for the response must take no longer than 10 working days from the date of receiving the complaint. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 1: Day complaint received by the organisation, or next working day if date of receipt is a non-working day. In a few cases where it is clearly essential to achieve early resolution, you may authorise an extension within five working days from when the complaint was received. You must conclude the early resolution stage within 10 working days from the date of receipt, either by resolving the complaint or by escalating it to the investigation stage. Day 10: Early resolution achieved or complaint escalated to the investigation stage. Transferring cases from early resolution to investigation If it is that early resolution has not resolved the matter, and the person wants to escalate the complaint to the investigation stage, the case must be passed for investigation without delay. In practice this will mean on the same day that the person is told this will happen.