Is there any point in complaining about the NHS?

[Whatsnormalhere]

Complain doesn’t feel like a strong enough word. My poor Dad died 6 months ago and was let down so terribly by the NHS, I could go on and on and on - most of it truly shocking.

He received a terminal diagnosis on the phone from our GP which was the start of the horrific ordeal. On the phone!! With no next steps!!!

No one ever wanted to take responsibility for him as a patient and I could go on and on about the mistakes and neglect but it would be a lengthy read. My Dad was old school and trusted in the system plus anything a doctor said, he was let down so badly.

Something else that upset us so much was a district nurse eventually turned up after months of nothing, that same morning he was being transferred to a hospice and the first thing she said was there’s a number to call to return all the hospital equipment we had at home.

My Dad deserved to be looked after and with dignity, I AM SO ANGRY, is there any point in making a formal complaint or will it just drag up every awful detail? What happens when people do complain, do they ever improve?

You can write to the Health Ombudsman.

im so sorry for your loss,* *what you’re going through must be horrible.
I work within a hospice (charity funded) I would recommend contacting PALS through your local hospital they will be able to advice you on making a complaint.

We complained to PALS for a grandparents care and had a meeting with the consultant. Things changed in the trust as a result.

I work for the NHS but can only speak for my very, very small part. To answer your question, unless it's going to make you feel better, probably not 😕. My manager (band 7), and the people just above her, really are trying their best, working very long hours, but I can see she's close to burnout with all the pressure on her.

We do get complaints but I don't think they're looked at properly - I used to work in the private sector and any 'expression of dissatisfaction' was investigated and recorded properly but that just doesn't happen where I work.

I'm so sorry for how your dad was treated .

I’m so sorry

I’m in a similar situation and, after such an awful ordeal, I’m trying to weigh up if it’s worth it or if it will cause me further distress tbh.
It’s not going to change the outcome as it isn’t going to help DH now, but I’m just so angry at the repeated errors, lack of care and the suffering DH endured because of it.

Absolutely there is. Please do. If the hospital is also a trust please contact their governors also who can take your complaint directly to the board.
Complaints are investigated and if found that there were mistakes made, steps will be taken to rectify them and make sure it doesn't happen in future

I’m sorry, he was let down so badly. I work for the NHS and in my current department, all of my colleagues are kind, caring and go the extra mile but I know this isn’t always the case sadly. Definitely complain, often staff shortages/lack of resources mean people can’t always do their job to the standard they’d like which can be soul destroying but unless you complain nothing will change.

I complained about my dad's treatment, I had to go through PALS.
It wasn't a case of hard-working tired burnt-out staff, it was people being paid to do a job that they failed to carry out correctly and as a result the patient suffered.

Complain to the NHS but also, complain to your MP. Complain to the Health Secretary. Complain about the desperate underfunding of our health service, complain about all the money that was spent on "PPE", complain about privatisation.

You can’t go straight to the Ombudsman, they will require you to have made a complaint to the service you used first.

I absolutely would complain OP, that all sounds like it made an already terrible time even worse.

I am sorry for you loss.

I put in a complaint to nhs england about poor practice. The response was a total fob off so waste of time and effort tbh. But I think you should complain. If nothing else it helps you get every awful thing down in writing which for me gets it out of my head a bit.
Depending on what happened you could consider a legal case if you think that is warranted.
I am sorry your poor dad and you had such a terrible experience.

"It wasn't a case of hard-working tired burnt-out staff, it was people being paid to do a job that they failed to carry out correctly and as a result the patient suffered."
You don't think these are the same thing?

In the last year I have spent 9 months trying to cover 3 jobs, then the next 2 months covering 2 jobs. I'm routinely working 50-60 hr weeks to try to maintain patient care, but occasionally I drop a ball. I'm paid to do my job, not all of the roles in my team but yes I m paid to do a job and sometimes fail to carry it out correctly and as a result, patients suffer.

I'm sorry OP. That sounds horrendous. It must feel that all the health care professionals forgot they were caring for a person when they treated your dad.

There are some hcps who don't really give a shit. It definitely needs to be called out. There are more if us who are working our bollocks off in a truly awful situation and complaints help us to reinforce to management that it is unsustainable and we need more resources on the ground.

If you can face it, put in a complaint.

I am so sorry for your loss and terrible experience. I don’t believe in complaining about small things but this is huge. A terminal diagnosis on the phone is beyond unacceptable.

You are right.

Sorry OP. it is worth complaining though.

We treat the NHS with such reverence, and sometimes they don't treat us back the way we should. It's worth reminding them what they should be doing.

Thank you for all of your replies. I will go through with making a formal complaint and I really hope it contributes to change moving forward.

It must feel that all the health care professionals forgot they were caring for a person when they treated your dad

This really is exactly how it felt, ‘forgotten’.

Thank you for replying, you are right it does need to be called out by each and every family that receive poor care and treatment. I am sure there are lots of wonderful hcp’s out there and we can’t deny that some people were lovely but even then many couldn’t help because of some crazy procedure or the workload pressures they faced.

Hi,

I put in a complaint about my dad's treatment.

This was via PALS. PALS information is often found via the hospital trust website or Facebook page.

I was very keen for lessons to be learnt. That if another patient has the same problem, that they would be treated differently and maybe have a better outcome.

We received a very lengthy reply explaining all the decisions made.
It wasn't great in our case as I didn't feel their answers were good enough, but it may help you understand why things were done as they were.

Its very sad when it feels like staff have forgotten that they are caring for a human being. For someone who is very loved and someone who deserves care and kindness.

Also I speak as a healthcare professional too. I admit that I once made a genuine mistake. It was an error and I was not long qualified. That patient quite rightly complained. I was so upset by it, I did some extra training in the area, and I then became training lead for that area of my job. I was paranoid about making the same mistake again.
If the patient had not complained I would be blissfully ignorant of it and would not have become better at my job!

Good luck xxx
.