COMPLAINTS AND PALS AT UCLH
Alison Glover - complaints
Sarah King - PALS
RESOLVING PATIENTS’ CONCERNS
Two teams working closely together and with trust departments to
resolve patient concerns and improve services where necessary
PALS
 Role is to provide general advice on UCLH services, sometimes NHS
services/structure (referrals etc), and to resolve issues patients by
liaising with the relevant clinical teams.
 Focus is on speedy resolution of patients’ concerns
COMPLAINTS
 A formal process following complaints procedures laid down by the
Department of Health
 Explicit processes and targets including external independent review
by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman
COMPLAINT PROCESS
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Complaint received (via e.g. CEO's Office, Trust website)
Sent to central complaints team & assessed for risk / severity
Registered on 'Datix'
Sent to lead division for investigation (copied to others, eg CN)
Telephone call to complainant to discuss complaint, approach to
investigation & timescales
Investigation conducted
Response prepared
Sent to central complaints team, quality checked
CEO covering letter drafted & complaint sent to CEO for sign off
NUMBER AND TYPES OF COMPLAINTS AND
CONCERNS
Pals handled 3,378 cases in 2013 and approximately 4,200
quick enquiries
665 formal complaints received
in 2013
Types of concerns:
 Access issues
 Administration / letters
 Environment / food
 Attitudes
 Nursing / medical care
 Clinical outcome
HOW COMPLAINTS & CONCERNS ARE USED TO
IMPROVE SERVICES
Focus is on improving services to ensure future patients
do not have similar problems
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Learning for individuals eg attitude / competency
Subspecialty or departmental changes
Capturing themes / triangulation of data
Sharing learning across a division / the Trust
EXAMPLES OF SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS
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The introduction of divisional Quality and Complaints Officers
to act as first point of contact for PALS and Complaints
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The option of 'no treatment' must be explicitly discussed and
documented during the consent process – revised UCLH
consent policy
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Development of clinical guidelines e.g. use of analgesia in
the Emergency Department
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT AT LOCAL LEVEL
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Complaints about the latent phase of labour progressing
more rapidly than expected after initial assessment
(It happens everywhere, and can result in “BBA” – birth
before arrival!)
The action:
A tighter management protocol
The creation of “the Nest” – a place to sit it out in the
Maternity Care Unit
UCLH Charity and Friends of UCLH
Rachel Wilcox,Manager, PR and Discretionary
Funds
Patient and Public Involvement
(PPI) in service improvement
Sameen Malik, Patient and Public Involvement Lead
What is PPI and why should we do it?
• Gives people a say in how we do things at UCLH
• It helps us to:
− Ensure services meet patient needs
− Identify areas for improvement
− Connect better to patients
− Monitor our progress
− Fulfil our legal requirement!
What improvements have we made from PPI?
It might not always be easy to make changes… but you may help us to
identify things we hadn’t thought about that can really make a difference
Positive
experience,
but couldn’t
find their way
to imaging
Patient with visual
impairment
Route card to help
patients find their way
What improvements have we made from PPI?
It might not always be easy to make changes… but you may help us to
identify things we hadn’t thought about that can really make a difference
Interviews
revealed this
was due to
overhearing
conversations
in the next bay
Patients felt staff
sometimes talked as if
they weren’t there
Confidential warning
sign on curtains was
introduced
How can you get involved?
• Let us know of your areas of interest
− Tell us if you are happy to commit to
something on-going or just as a one-off
• We will contact you when projects in your
interest area come up
Ros Waring
Sameen Malik
Volunteers
Andrea Kennedy, volunteer and patient governor