Sharing and Publishing Information about NHS Complaints
Following a public consultation about our approach to sharing information about NHS complaints in 2009-10, we sought an amendment to our legislation to allow us to share our decision letters with the NHS practitioner/organisation complained about in those cases where we have decided not to carry out a formal investigation. Previously, by law, we were only permitted to share the report of an investigation with the practitioner/organisation concerned. This new power was enacted through the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
This means that in the case of complaints made to us on or after 1 January 2013, if we decide not to investigate a complaint, we may send a copy of our decision letter to the health practitioner/organisation complained about, in line with our revised policy, Sharing and publishing information about NHS complaints. The policy explains more about when we will do this.
As these letters can be quite detailed in setting out what practitioners/organisations did satisfactorily and what they did less well, we are pleased that this will provide an opportunity for further valuable learning in reviewing and developing local policy and practice.
