October 2008

The Archives

31.10.08 | Caroline Millar

Schools need lessons in complaint handling Posted under: Complaint Handling, Schools | (1)
When I first became a school governor six years ago, I was taken aback to discover that the thing which the school called its "complaints policy" (when they actually managed to locate a dusty photocopy at the back of a filing cabinet) was something which would barely be worthy of the name in most other public or private sector organisations. A leap too far It told you to complain to the Head, then complain to the Chair of Governors and then escalate your problem to the Secretary of State - definitely a leap too far. This long-winded, defensive document conveyed the clear ...

Tagged: Add new tag
27.10.08 | Andrew Craig

“Engagement” isn’t enough - only “Involvement” can influence commissioning Posted under: NHS, Public Involvement | (1)
Have you noticed that PPI is being eased aside by many NHS bodies in favour of PPE? The “patient and public” (PP) part is unchanged, but in the new rubric “E is for engagement” and “I for involvement” is falling off the page. We should be concerned if the “I-word” has been waylaid in the corridors of Whitehall in favour of “engaging people and communities” . Engagement and Involvement aren’t interchangeable. However it might be dressed up in the latest policy couture, “engagement” implies a process of enquiry initiated by the NHS when and how it chooses. “Involvement”, in contrast, implies a sustained, continuous ...

Tagged: commissioning, engagement, involvement
27.10.08 | Valerie Moore

Policy Governance® UK Case History: Val Moore hears how it works in Foundation Trusts Posted under: Clients, Management & Innovation, NHS, Policy Governance® | (2)
It was great to see John Bruce and John Gilham, the Chairman and Chief Executive respectively of Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust demonstrating how Policy Governance® (PG) worked for them as they set out the case history of their experience in launching and managing the UK's most comprehensive PG-based governance initiative. Their Hospital Board is implementing Policy Governance in full and their experiences along the way inspired delegate after delegate who said the speakers had brought Policy Governance to life and shown its relevance and application in a modern NHS. Their presentation was made at a workshop at Birkbeck College ...

Tagged: Policy Governance
24.10.08 | Colin Adamson

Complaint Data - common themes confirmed in different surveys Posted under: Complaint Handling, Management & Innovation, NHS, Social Care | (2)
It gets a little dispiriting if you work with complaints and complainants to see the same old messages emerge in survey after survey as the years go by. If I was a complainant, I would be tempted to be very rude to the next person who wanted me to complete a survey about the experience I had with my complaint. The questionnaires or the questioner have a little spiel along the lines of "your experiences will help us greatly in improving the way we handle complaints". Really? There seems to be little sign of that. The National Audit Office has taken ...

Tagged: complaint survey, customer care, customer satisfaction, NHS
23.10.08 | Andrew Craig

No Authority? Then No Accountability - the Policy Governance® View on the NHS Constitution Posted under: Management & Innovation, NHS, Policy Governance®, Public Involvement | (1)
The consultation on the proposed NHS Constitution closed last week. The UK Policy Governance Association (UKPGA) said it all for us in their submission. M-A-C partners have been big fans of the “policy governance”® approach for public sector boards and Valerie Moore is an accredited PG practitioner. ( See our main website ) The UKPGA submission focused on two key aspects: accountability and local determination of needs. Those have to sorted out first before service users can be clear about what their entitlements to services are. But the NHS Constitution lacks a statement of accountability – ie there is no answer ...

Tagged: NHS, Policy Governance
14.10.08 | Andrew Craig

“Local socialism” trumps “post code lottery” in the NHS debate Posted under: Local Involvement Network, NHS, Public Involvement, Uncategorized | (2)
I’m thinking about starting a list of unhelpful phrases about the NHS and top of the list is going to be “post code lottery”. “London NHS care is postcode lottery” screamed the Evening Standard recently in response to a study from the Kings Fund showing variations in what London PCTs spend on cancer, heart disease and other things. Cue tabloid shroud waving and health-campaigner handwringing: funding differences = dreadful unfairness to people in areas where spending does not match the highest levels = heartless NHS bureaucrats putting people’s health at risk (shame!). Simplistic league tables comparing health spending in uncritical ways don’t help ...

Tagged: healthcare, local decisions, politics, post code lottery
09.10.08 | Colin Adamson

Paying for Participation Posted under: NHS, Public Involvement | (0)
We have talked before about the role of cash incentives in getting people engaged with their Health Service. So when we saw this on the BBC News site, we wondered who else was using this or other cash-type rewards? It opens the intriguing concept of cash-based competition between public bodies - many now with statutory duties to consult - to access the views of us fish in the pool of public opinion. Whoever has the biggest feeding bucket with the most fish food gets the most opinions? See the story below: Vouchers offered for NHS opinions http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7658352.stm Residents in east London are being ...

Tagged: NHS
06.10.08 | Andrew Craig

Public engagement requires corporate endeavour Posted under: NHS, Public Involvement, Uncategorized | (0)
So says Healthcare for London (the Capital's own Darzi "vision for better healthcare") in a refreshingly short and to the point discussion from a recent workshop on patient, user and public engagement and - wait for it - empowerment. In governance terms, we certainly endorse HfL's view that "public engagement has to be a board-level corporate endeavour". Without this everything else is just process, however well executed, and vulnerable to the first whiff of financial necessity. And there are plenty of signs of that around in the real world at the moment. The importance of branding and reputation building are also wound into the ...