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NHS complaints can help valuable lessons to be learned
Updated 19th January 2009 
By Ken Thomas, Partner and Medical Negligence lawyer at Harding Evans Solicitors.
The latest Welsh Assembly Government statistics show a rise in the number of complains made about the NHS in Wales.
In total 7,022 complaints were made during 2007-08 representing a rise of nearly a third on the annual figure five years ago.
These figures include complains made, not just about GPs and hospitals, but also about dentists, out-of-hours services and community health provision.
Complains can vary enormously, ranging from staff attitudes or ward cleanliness through to serious failures to diagnose or treat competently or promptly.
There are various stages to the complaints process including local resolution, independent review and an investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman.
So are NHS complains a bad thing?
On one hand they may well be seen to divert scarce resources - particularly the time of doctors, nurses and other staff - away from frontline medical care.
On the other hand, valuable lessons can be learned, and lives saved, if under-performing practitioners or inadequate practices are identified.
"The rising number of complaints here in Wales may reflect the fact that people are now more willing and able to lodge complaints that previously, as much as it reflects falling treatment standards"
» Ken Thomas, Partner and Medical Negligence lawyer
However the system certainly does have its critics. In a recent report, the National Audit Office heavily criticised the NHS complaints system in England, saying there was insufficient accountability and, generally, the system failed all measures of a good complains process.
There is no doubt that many patients or their families find that, when they complain, the procedures are long, laborious and not always sufficiently independent.
Complaint responses can take a long time to come through, and different healthcare providers vary both in their turnaround time and the quality of replies to issues raised.
Here in Wales, NHS patients are fortunate enough to be ale to seek assistance from their local community health councils and, in particular, their patient complains advocacy services, which offer free and independent assistance including assistance in letter writing and providing support at meetings.
Some of these complaints go on to become legal complaints for compensation - but not all of them.
Where a claimant now seeks public funding - previously known as legal aid - they invariably have to have pursued an NHS complaint beforehand.
This is not necessarily a bad thing as it enables the complainant, his or her lawyer and, of course, the Legal Services Commission - formerly the Legal Aid Board - to make a better informed decision on proceeding.
That said, there are times where the healthcare provider denies any failure of care but a subsequent medico-legal investigation demonstrates that to be an incorrect conclusion.
The rising number of complaints here in Wales may reflect the fact that people are now more willing and able to lodge complaints that previously, as much as it reflects falling treatment standards.
Patients in Wales come into contact with the NHS about 22 million times a year, so 7,000 or so complaints in 12 months is a pretty small percentage on any view.
The key focus must therefore be on investigating those complaints comprehensively and promptly, apologising where appropriate and, most importantly, learning the lessons to reduce the risk of recurrence.