Drop in complaints about King’s Mill

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received a total of 491 complaints between 1st April and 4th December 2013, according to figures revealed at its most recent board meeting.

Only three of these remain open past their timeframe and this is due to the ‘complexity’ of the complaints and the fact other hospitals are involved.

Sixty-nine complaints were received in October.

The trust has cleared the backlog of complaints identified by Sir Bruce Keogh during his inspection, and has recently implemented a new system of handling complaints.

Susan Bowler, executive director of nursing and quality at the trust, said: “Managing complaints well and working towards a conclusive resolution is the cornerstone of our patient satisfaction strategy, and thus we have introduced new ways of working.

“These include the appointment of an experienced interim complaints manager to lead a dynamic, sensitive and responsive complaints service, which ensures the trust meets its statutory obligations.

“We have taken steps to strengthen systems for learning lessons from complaints and improving complaint responses, and are continually exploring ways to improve patient experience.”

The most complained about areas in November were clinical treatment and clinical diagnosis, with 11 and seven complaints respectively.

Between August and November there were 36 complaints about doctors’ attitudes, though this had fallen to five in November.

Susan Bowler added that the changes to the complaints procedure mean complainants will get a more detailed response in a more timely manner.