NHS England: Flexible complaints training for healthcare professionals
NHS England (NHSE) has been working with different indemnity providers in primary care, with a particular focus on dentistry, to deliver complaint handling training.
NHSE says uptake and feedback have both been encouraging, with over 1,000 professionals trained over the last 18 months. This suggests GPs and dentists are keen to improve their complaints handling.
The training covers a range of initiatives from ‘Hello My Name Is’ (a campaign to remind healthcare staff about the importance of introducing themselves to those they care for), to understanding NHS Complaint Regulations and writing better complaint responses.
NHSE says the success of the training is partly due to the local and flexible nature of the delivery. This makes it as convenient as possible for primary care providers to attend with little impact on their service.
In January 2018, NHSE also launched a complainant experience survey and toolkit. This was based on ‘My Expectations’ a user-led vision we developed with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Healthwatch England to help improve the way complaints are handled across the NHS and social care.