During the time of transition, some NHS organisations are being wound up and new ones will take their first steps. A number of things need to happen to ensure effective complaint handling in these new organisations: leaders will need to take responsibility for embedding effective complaint handling and learning; new staff in new organisations need to ensure that complaints do not fall between the gaps during these critical transition periods; and organisations need effective mechanisms to manage and learn from all complaints, including those about choice.
The government has proposed, as part of the NHS reforms, that patients should have greater involvement in decisions about their care. In particular, patients’ choice of GP will be less restricted by where they live, and patients should be told what options are available at referral, diagnosis and treatment, as well as being involved in deciding which options best suit them.
Under the new arrangements for commissioning care, each clinical commissioning group (CCG) has a duty to commission the care it ‘considers necessary to meet the reasonable requirements’ of the patients for whose care it is responsible. With this focus on meeting the needs of local populations and greater patient expectations about choice, it is possible that CCGs will begin to receive complaints about the choices they make, particularly where individuals feel that these decisions have impacted negatively on them.
As for any NHS complaint, the Ombudsman would be the arbiter in a complaint about denial of choice and would be able to make recommendations for the individual concerned. We would also share information with other organisations such as Monitor to support their role in safeguarding choice and competition.
Getting it right in the new NHS
In dealing with patients’ complaints about denial of choice we will share the learning from such complaints with providers, commissioners and regulators. This will help inform wider evaluation of how the new choice agenda is working, and how services can be improved.