Patients are urged to speak out about care concerns
ALMOST SEVEN million people over the last five years have had concerns about their care but have never raised them, according to a regulator.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which inspects organisations including care homes, GP surgeries and hospitals, said most people feel regret if they do not raise their concerns. It is launching a campaign – Declare Your Care – to urge people to tell about poor care as a way of improving services.
A poll for the CQC of 2,002 people found 16 per cent had wanted to complain in the last five years but did not, while 30 per cent did complain and 54 per cent had no complaints.
The most common reasons for not raising a concern were not knowing how to (20 per cent), not knowing who to address concerns to (33 per cent) and not wanting to be seen as a troublemaker (33 per cent).
Some 28 per cent of people were worried about not being taken seriously, while more than a third (37 per cent) believed nothing would change as a result.
However, when people did raise a concern or complaint, the majority (66 per cent) found their issue was resolved quickly, it helped the service to improve and they were happy with the outcome, the CQC said.
The three main reasons why people complain – or why they wish to – are delays to a service or appointment, lack of information and poor patient care.
More than 20 per cent also have worries about the lack of communication between health and care services. Ian Trenholm, of the CQC, said most people are getting good care, but added: “We know that when people raise a concern they have a genuine desire to improve the service.”
Care Minister Caroline Dinenage said: “We want the NHS and social care system to provide the safest, most compassionate care in the world. This means encouraging patients to speak up with concerns, ensuring we act on them and learning from what happened so we can do better in future.”