Total Complaints in the Quarter Ending 30 June 2010 Compared with Previous Quarter

Complaints and Service User Feedback

Quarterly Report

1 April 2011 - 30 June 2011

Complaints, Enquiries and Compliments

Contents

Page

Section A - Complaints

Total complaints received2

Complaints received by Directorate3

Percentage of total complaints by Directorate4

Formal complaints by specialty5

Top 5 categories of complaints6 - 7

Complaints by subject8

Children Order complaints9

Complaints performance overall10

Complaints performance by Directorate10 - 13

Complaints performance by specialty14

Learning from complaints15 - 16

Ombudsman requests16

Ombudsman reports17 - 18

Section B - Enquiries

Total MLA enquiries by Directorate19

Total MLA enquiries by specialty20

Total other enquiries by Directorate21

Total other enquiries by specialty22

Section C - Compliments

Compliments received23 - 25

Section A - Formal Complaints

Formal Complaints Received

Total formal complaints received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Formal complaints received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 by Directorate compared with previous quarter

Formal complaints received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 by Directorate compared with previous quarter (contd)

Percentage of total formal complaints received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 by Directorate compared with previous quarter

Formal complaints received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 by specialty compared with previous quarter

Note: *1 Acute Facilities – increase due to a number of complaints regarding car parking charges, *2 Child Care – increase due to a number of complaints from playgroups/early years about changes to staffing requirements where there are children under 3 years old, *3 – no specific reason for increase noted

Complaints by Subject

Note: Complaints often have more than one subject/issue detailed. These subjects have been pre-determined by the DHSSPS. There are 36 subject codes in total including ‘other’:

• Between 1/1/11 - 31/3/11 there were 129 formal complaints and 159 complaints issues identified.

• Between 1/4/11 - 30/6/11 there were 163 formal complaints and 230 complaints issues identified.

During the 1/1/11 - 31/3/11 quarter 67.3% of the total complaints issues were included within the top 5 categories of complaints.

During the 1/4/11 - 30/6/11 quarter 60.9% of the total complaints issues were included within the top 5 categories of complaints.

Formal complaints in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 by all subjects compared with previous quarter

Note: *1 Other – A significant number of these relate to where a complaint is made in relation to a named member of Trust staff within the following professional groups – nursing, medical, dental, social work, AHPs. Other has been excluded from the top 5 categories of complaints

Children Order Complaints

Children Order complaints in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

In the quarter 1/1/11 - 31/3/11 no Children Order complaints were received.

In the quarter 1/4/11 - 30/6/11 no Children Order complaints were received.

Complaints Performance

Complaints performance in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter (Overall)

Overall Trust complaints performance in quarter ending 30 June 2011 was 79%

Monthly complaints performance in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter (By Individual Directorate)

Complaints performance report by specialty in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Specialties below 79% (overall Trust complaints performance in quarter ending 30/6/11) denoted by

N/A = Not Applicable, no complaints received

Learning From Complaints/Identified Actions

A Summary of Action Form is issued with each complaint to Investigating Officers. This form should be completed and returned for each complaint received. If action or learning is not appropriate this should be indicated on the completed form.

Detailed below are some examples of the actions identified as a result of complaints received in the 1/4/11 - 30/6/11 quarter:

Patient is unhappy that he lives in Antrim but has twice been sent to Causeway for chest x-rays.

Action: Clerical staff informed that plain film x-ray appointments should be appointed to the hospital site nearest to the patient’s address, when practicable.

Patient is unhappy with the length of time she had to wait for an outpatient appointment. Arrived for a 2:50pm appointment, her name was called at 3:30pm and was shown to another room. The doctor eventually saw her for a 10 minute consultation. The patient was leaving this appointment at 4:45pm. Action: Nursing staff to be aware of complainants’ concerns re waiting in a small room - to take account of this when asking patients to wait in this room.

Complaint about unhygienic toilets in both A&E and Surgical 2. Action: Additional check on A&E Department toilets between 8:00am and 8:30am daily. Domestic staff reminded to carry out check cleans of toilets in Surgical 2 as part of cleaning regime.

Complainant is unhappy with patients and visitors smoking at the hospital entrance. Action: Staff to ensure that patients are aware of designated smoking areas. Ward managers to be advised to let patients know this also.

Wife of patient who has been in ICU for 16 weeks is unhappy that she has to pay for car parking.

Action: Better communication to staff on wards re the exemptions for car parking.

Service user unhappy with the disintegrating condition of the flooring in the Outpatients Department patients’ toilets, Mid Ulster Hospital. Action: Existing flooring in Outpatients public toilet areas to be replaced with new vinyl floor finish.

Parents unhappy with their son’s treatment for an umbilical granuloma at the Health Centre. Skin around the area appeared burned and peeling. Action: Learning alert required to review the use of this item by treatment room nurses. Action plan to address the issues raised in the incident.

Family unhappy with the way the handover from Trust home care workers to external home care workers was handled. Very dissatisfied with the previous care provided by Trust home care workers.

Action: Address issues of care and practice with the team. Address issues from meeting with individual home care workers. Organise urgent training - manual handling, personal care training. Robust monitoring of team.

Parents are unhappy with the length of time they have been waiting before they can commence work through the Family Centre. Their children are on the Child Protection Register and they feel this delay to commence work will mean that their children will have to remain on the register for a longer period of time. Action: To put in place systems to monitor waiting lists for Family Centres, being mindful that non-priority cases can regularly drop down the list and therefore these cases in particular need to be kept under review.

Daughter very unhappy that her mother has suffered from bedsores during her last 2 periods in respite. Action: Improved communication between staff in the PNH and families to ensure specialised equipment brought by families for their relative’s respite is used in accordance with their assessed need.

Ombudsman (Commissioner for Complaints)

Ombudsman requests received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Ombudsman requests received:

1/1/11 - 31/3/11 (3)

1. Complainant claims to have sustained injustice as a result of maladministration by the NHSCT in relation to the death of her husband whilst an inpatient in Causeway Hospital. (Acute Hospital Services)

1. Complainant feels her father sustained injustice as a result of maladministration re: medical treatment of her father by the NHSCT. (Acute Hospital Services)

1. Mother was dissatisfied with a UNOCINI report and a report for a professional strategy meeting. Challenging a number of statements made and queries the evidence and balance adjudged between risk and protective factors around which Social Services based its action at this time. (Children’s Services and Mental Health)

1/4/11 - 30/6/11 (1)

1.Parents were dissatisfied with the Trust’s response regarding x-rays, lack of information and they felt they were shown a lack of respect. (Children’s Services and Acute Hospital Services)

Ombudsman reports received in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Outcome of Ombudsman’s investigations:

1/1/11 - 31/3/11 (2)

Case 1

Complainants were unhappy with the Trust’s response to their complaint. They were foster carers who complained when a child in their care went to live with an aunt and they wanted the child to stay with them (Children’s Services). The Trust was notified by the Ombudsman regarding this complaint during September 2009.

The Ombudsman concluded in his report dated February 2011 that: “There is no evidence that the Trust’s actions during the time of the child’s placement constitutes maladministration. Some learning points have been noted for the Trust to take into consideration. However I am satisfied that these do not significantly detract from the overall reasonable actions of the Trust.”

Case 2

Complainant was unhappy about relative’s discharge from Whiteabbey A&E and subsequent readmission and death from cancer. Client feels that diagnosis was missed and elderly relative was suffering unnecessarily. (Acute Hospital Services). The Trust was notified by the Ombudsman regarding this complaint during May 2010.

The Ombudsman concluded in his report dated February 2011 that the complaint was partially upheld on the basis that some aspects of care were not of an acceptable standard causing the patient undue suffering and “whilst earlier diagnosis is unlikely to have extended her sister’s life, it would have alleviated the suffering experienced during her final months, by enabling her to access appropriate palliative care services that would have facilitated the management of the terminal illness in its final stages.” The Ombudsman stated that the inadequate care provided by the Trust constituted maladministration. As a result of the undue suffering caused he instructed the Trust to issue a letter of apology to the complainant (issued March 2011).

Another aspect of the complaint was not upheld which related to non-response to a letter the complainant had written to her sister’s GP and which the Trust received a copy of.

1/4/11 - 30/6/11

No reports were received.

Section B - Enquiries

MLA Enquiries

Total MLA Enquiries received by Directorate in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Total MLA Enquiries received by specialty in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Total other enquiries received by Directorate in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Total other enquiries received by specialty in the quarter ending 30 June 2011 compared with previous quarter

Section C - Compliments

Number of compliments received by Directorate at Trust Headquarters during the quarter ending 30 June 2011

Number of compliments received1/1/11 - 31/3/11N = 147

Number of compliments received1/4/11 - 30/6/11N = 156

A selection of the comments received at Trust Headquarters during the quarter ending 30 June 2011 are detailed below:

“On Tuesday 7th June, while on holiday in Portrush, my granddaughter attended A&E at Causeway Hospital with suspected meningitis. The treatment and care she received in A&E and the Children’s Ward was of the highest order and reflects great credit on this hospital. I and my family are eternally grateful.”

“I have recently been a patient on wards C5 and C6, Antrim Hospital. I wish to commend all the staff on both wards. They were all so kind but also very professional. I greatly appreciated the fact that they kept me informed of my progress at all times. I would also like to thank the cleaners and domestic staff. The ward was always clean and the food lovely. It was a pleasure to be a patient on both wards. Thank you once again.”

“I am writing in praise of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Maintenance classes organised through the Causeway Hospital. I have been a regular at the classes. I believe they are a necessity for patients with COPD and other respiratory illnesses. The class leaders have been highly motivational and caring. They have gently pushed patients to their limits of appropriate exercise and their talks on the proper medical care have been most interesting and informative. The Trust policy should be to make people more aware of the necessity of pulmonary rehabilitation and encourage patients to make the best use of the excellent service on offer.”

“I would like to express my thanks for the way I was treated by the physiotherapist in Portrush Medical Centre. My health has improved immensely owing to my ten appointments with her. I may not be 100% better but I would say I am 50% better. Very professional. Many thanks.”

“I brought my frightened little boy into A&E today and was dreading it - he has global development delay and some phobias which can make his behaviour difficult. From the moment we arrived we were treated so efficiently and expertly. The nursing staff were very sympathetic and empathetic and we were both put at our ease from the start. The staff listened carefully to my concerns and those of my son. I was allowed to take him to X-Ray on a wheelchair myself. This gave me a chance to try to relax him and prepare him for the new experience but my attempts were not as successful as the radiologists, who were wonderful. I do hope you can pass on my thanks to the team who looked after him today.”

“I would like to compliment the staff in Whiteabbey Ward 2 for the care and attention given to my mother during her stay in hospital. A very special thanks to the OT staff for their kindness and patience, enabling her to return home to her family.”

“One feature of the Mid Ulster Hospital which I especially appreciated was the excellent shop. I found myself returning to the shop several times a day in search of sundries like envelopes, toiletries, newspapers and so on. I know there must be a question mark over the future of the shop as the residential wards face imminent closure and the hospital will thereafter, if I understand correctly, serve only as a minor injuries unit. I would simply like to register my own feeling that the shop does an excellent job, for outpatients and visitors alike, and I very much hope it can be retained when the hospital changes status.”

“Since I started at the Rehabilitation Unit at Whiteabbey Hospital I have nothing but praise for the staff and the treatment that I have received so far.”

“To all members of the Greenisland/Carrickfergus District Nursing Team. This is just a short note to say how much I appreciated your care over the last year. On many occasions your smiley faces lifted my spirits and it goes without saying that I would certainly have been lost without your dressing skills. Thank you all for the thoughtful and sensitive way you took care of me during my illness. With love and best wishes.”

“Had the services of the Community Rehabilitation and Stroke Service after discharge from hospital last month due to hip fracture. Staff were very pleasant and facilitating and I looked forward to their calls.”

“The Occupational Therapist was with us today. We found her very helpful, caring and supportive. She took time and patience to provide my husband with all the help he needed, which now has made daily activities less stressful. She also took time to give us advice and assistance. We would like to thank her very much and wish her every success in the future.”

“Duties performed by the Stroke Team from Whitehead and the speech therapist and physiotherapist from Whiteabbey Hospital from May to June 2011 inclusive could only be explained by one word - fabulous. Each of them had a job to do and they did it with an obvious sense of commitment to their work. I can only conclude by wishing them all success with the patients they encounter in the future. It was a joy for me to see them coming in and gave my husband great encouragement.”