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PATIENT CARE


WhytheNHScan’tafford toignorecomplaints


Healthcare funding cuts might make headline news but, as Martin Ellingham, senior product manager at Aptean, outlines failure to manage complaints effectively could create an existential crisis for the NHS as patients lose trust in its services.


Long story short – the NHS is in the greatest danger of collapse than ever before. Despite the news reports and column inches written about the crisis, many don’t realise just how dire the situation really is. You’ve likely seen the headlines about patients abandoned in hospital corridors and other visible failures in care. Clearly, these look bad, but they’re simply just one element of a larger care crisis engulfing the NHS – a crisis laid bare by the rapid rise in complaints.


Patient complaints – the hidden virus in the NHS


Complaints are a major issue for the NHS. It’s one thing attracting criticism from outside forces pursuing their own agendas. But, when the criticism comes from the very people the health system was set up to look after, there quickly becomes a problem. The bad news is that the number of complaints is rising steadily. During 2016/17, the NHS received 208,400


Martin Ellingham, senior product manager at Aptean.


written complaints – an increase of 4.9% on the previous year. This represents an average of more than 550 complaints every day; far from an ideal scenario. Should this trend continue for years to come, the NHS will be faced with a catastrophic loss of patient trust. This could be the beginning of the end for the NHS. With private healthcare companies already taking a larger share of tendered contracts, NHS services could find it even harder to make the case for why they should be chosen as preferred providers. Trust in the NHS is everything, and complaints threaten to fatally undermine public confidence in their healthcare service as it passes its 70th birthday. Four reasons the NHS is receiving more complaints than ever. Unfortunately for the NHS, the healthcare landscape isn’t going to get any easier. So, here are four reasons why the number of complaints is only set to increase:


1. Funding cuts lead to reductions and delays in services


Effective complaint handling is critical for the NHS and should be a top priority. Otherwise, it’ll see a reduction in patient safety lead to a lack of trust in its healthcare services.


62 I WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM


The NHS is under huge financial pressure, leaving providers in a perilous position. By 2022/23, the NHS in England could be facing a funding gap of more than £24billion. Even in the short term, the NHS is struggling. Funding growth throughout 2018/19 will only reach 0.4% – a real-term fall in spending on healthcare per person that leaves providers underfunded to the tune of £4bn.


This cuts into NHS organisations’ ability NOVEMBER 2018


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