The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7341 p325
19 March 2005

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

NHS complaints system criticised

Patients should be able to complain to primary care trusts if they are dissatisfied with the service they have received from primary care contractors, the health service ombudsman for England has said.

A report on the NHS complaints system by ombudsman Ann Abraham (PDF 410K) criticises the current system for requiring complaints to be made in the first instance to the contractor about whom they wish to complain.

She said: “That person may also be the one who responds to them without any input from a third party. For the patient, dealing directly with a practitioner with whom they have a continuing relationship can be very difficult.”

Instead, she wants PCTs to handle complaints and to support patients in pursuing them.

Overall, Ms Abraham says that the NHS complaints system has failed complainants for the past eight years.

“Many fine words have been spoken over the years about the need for a truly patient-focused complaints system, but it has still not become a reality.”

She calls on the Department of Health to create a new core standard for complaints handling that all NHS providers must meet.

Steve Lutener, head of regulation at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said that the new pharmacy contract regulations will require contractors to have complaints procedures that are essentially the same as in the rest of the NHS.

“While we note the concerns expressed by the ombudsman, it is important that a patient who is dissatisfied with any provision of NHS care raises that first with the provider of the care, to allow the provider the opportunity to take remedial action, if appropriate. As patients are not registered with pharmacies, it is generally the case that a patient who remains dissatisfied, could choose to use another pharmacy, so the ombudsman’s comment about the difficulty in making a complaint while continuing the relationship may not always be valid in relation to pharmacy. An important addition to the new pharmacy contractual framework is the requirement to conduct an annual patient satisfaction survey.”