HC Deb 15 April 1981 vol 3 cc215-6W
Mr. McCrindle

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he intends to issue guidance to health authorities on the handling of complaints made by patients.

Mr. Patrick Jenkin

I have approved for issue to health authorities in England a memorandum of guidance on which they will be asked to base their arrangements for dealing with suggestions and complaints other than those relating to family practitioner services. My Department will be circulating this to authorities very shortly. Copies of the text are available in the Vote Office.

The memorandum, which is in three parts, is designed for use by authorities as the basis of guidance for the staff concerned. The first part contains advice on the handling of minor problems and criticisms which staff should normally be able to deal with on the spot. It underlines the general responsibility of staff for good communication with patients, and the part which this can play in avoiding situations which may give rise to complaint. The second part of the memorandum sets out the arrangements recommended for handling formal complaints, other than those which involve the clinical judgment of hospital doctors and dentists.

The first two parts of the memorandum take into account the response to proposals which were circulated for comment to health authorities and others in 1978. They seek to fulfil a need, which has been widely expressed for simple, straightforward guidance which can be followed by the staff directly concerned with handling complaints. I know that health authorities generally, and their staff, do all they can to deal conscientiously and sympathetically with complaints about their services. I hope that the new guidance, applied from now on, will assist them in that task.

The third part of the memorandum introduces a new procedure for handling complaints which relate to the exercise of clinical judgment by hospital doctors and dentists. Following a request by my predecessor, proposals for such a procedure were submitted to me last year by the joint consultants committee. The procedure as now agreed follows detailed discussions between the committee's representatives and those of my Department. The possibilities for independent investigations of this class of complaint, and drawing the appropriate lessons from them, have hitherto been extremely limited. The new procedures are a significant advance.

The new procedure, which I am asking authorities to bring into operation from 1 September, is being introduced on a trial basis. It provides for complaints which cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the consultant concerned to be investigated by two independent consultants in the appropriate specialty or specialties. The responsibility for invoking this procedure will rest with the regional medical officer for the region in question. The two independent consultants—referred to in the memorandum as "second opinions"—will report their findings to the regional medical officer, who will advise the district administrator on the terms of the reply to be made to the complainant.

I shall in due course be reviewing this new procedure in the light of practical experience.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland intend to introduce similar arrangements in the light of consultation about the detailed procedures appropriate in those countries.