Complaining about NHS?

[paulfoel]

As per my other post, glad to say that my father is now back in hospital. Seems to be recieving the sort of care and attention that he should have had first time around.

 

BUT, I still want to complain. Its more luck than judgement that nothing serious occured. I have a number of issues with the way he was discharged from hospital etc.

 

Only problem is my Dad is the type who will listen blindly to anyone in authority. This is partly what caused the problem. If they said he was ok, he would go home even if he was dying because someone else told him.

 

He had a really bad time last weekend but now hes saying "I dont want to get anyone in trouble" and "I dont want to cause a fuss".

 

Personally I think anyone who has acted correctly has nothing to worry about but anyone who is negligent deserves all they get. I've tried to explain to him that no-one is going to get into trouble on my say so, only if they have truly done something wrong. I've also pointed out that the outcome could have been different and he has a duty to ensure things are put right since the next person might not be so lucky.

 

But its like hitting my head against a brick wall. All hes got to say is "oh well its ok now isn't it and they;ve been nice to me here". Of course they're nice to you - they know they screwed up.

 

I am planning to complain but I assume at some point they're going to need his permission? Not sure how I'm going to be able to talk him around if this is the case.

 

Not sure if there any other avenues to complain without his permission.....

 

All I want is someone to take ownership, look at what was done and deal with it on its merits. If nothing has been done wrong, then fair enough. But I'm not sure I could sleep at night if I knew that there was a doctor/nurse out there short-cutting the process because they couldnt be bothered and this happens to someone else....

[Conniff]

Write a letter marked official complaint to the manager of the hospital or if it a trust, the manager of the trust and copy that letter to you local newspaper or if you feel up to it, all the papers you can think of. One of them might just take up your case.

[Nystagmite]

I've found that complaining (which I've done twice) is a waste of time. I was told to write to PALS and was fobbed off twice.

[paulfoel]

I've found that complaining (which I've done twice) is a waste of time. I was told to write to PALS and was fobbed off twice.

 

Yes I've complained before when my wife was in hospital. TEmplate for responses seems to be:-

 

1. If you can't prove it happened, they will deny it.

2. If they can't deny it, they will try to blame budget cuts.

3. If they can't blame budget cuts, say all we can do is apologise.

 

And nothing changes....

 

But we've all got to try IMHO

[paulfoel]

Write a letter marked official complaint to the manager of the hospital or if it a trust, the manager of the trust and copy that letter to you local newspaper or if you feel up to it, all the papers you can think of. One of them might just take up your case.

 

Yes buts possibly going to have to be done without my Dad agreeing.....

 

I have sent an email to the papers and they are interested but I know for a fact my Dad wont want to do this.

[Conniff]

You should always abide by your fathers wishes.

[paulfoel]

You should always abide by your fathers wishes.

 

Hes 81. Hes of the generation where you dont cause a fuss. He doesnt totally understand how things work.

 

Its difficult to explain to him that nothing will change if no-one complains.

[think about it]

Hi Paul,

 

just to confirm what the others have said from an NHS complaints perspective is that, yes, you do need your father's express consent to be able to act on his behalf in relation to the complaint. It's a single page consent form that you'd both sign.

 

Now, the other option is to ask that the problems are recorded on their incident reporting system. If it's in Wales (I'm sure I read in one of your posts that you were) then the system is called Datix. It logs all events and incidents and in fairness, I'd have hoped that the person you'd raised the issues with will have done this already. If not, challenge them to do so, these internal forms generate the same level of scrutiny as a complaint.

 

As Conniff says, there's a big part here in supporting your father's wishes and perhaps giving him the confidence to question those around him, right or wrong the people involved in his discharge will assume everything is fine if the patient has capacity to make decisions and speak for themselves. Asking a question like "Now, you'll be alright won't you?" often generates a "yes, fine" response when the opposite is true, nevertheless it's not the nurse's place to doubt this.

 

Perhaps give your father some time to recover first and bring it into discussion in a couple of weeks, he might be more ready to get involved then.

[Marianne7]

Cataract removal is usually done as a day case, with the patient going home afterwards. My father had this op done, one eye first and then a few weeks later the other, when he was 92 and he too lived alone. I went to stay with him for the rest of the day and into the evening, just to make sure he would be alright at home, no blurred vision, etc.

 

There was no medical reason why he needed to stay in hospital. Was no family member (or friend) available to stay with your father for a few hours after the op? This is a social need, not a medical one.

[nannamoon1]

Parents say they discovered NHS cover up over death of their son - ITV News

 

Have a look at this story, they do cover up everything, they lie, and deny everything.

 

 

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-12-09/parents-discover-nhs-cover-up-over-death-of-their-son/

 

 

There has been several reports of late one including the Health Parliamentary Ombudsman which is a great read on how the NHS cover up everything.