Complaints Too Difficile for NHS

The duo of Ann Clwyd MP and Professor Hart, a Francis Enquiry advisor, are tasked with coming up with recommendations on complaint handling in the NHS and the MAC Partners have sent them an email wishing them well. We added a link to our complaints report dating back to 2006 or so. I was reminded that... 
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Not Demanding Enough?

Interesting to see Ben Page writing about the NHS in the King’s Fund Time to Think Differently slot. In addition to making his usual point that people are more worried about the economy than the NHS, he says: one of the challenges for the NHS is that expectations of it are in some ways not high... 
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Have you déjà vu?

Add to your vocabulary with the rhyming phrase  l’arrière-goût de déjà vu – the after-taste of d v. This was my rather acid mood when contemplating what to say about the latest report from the Ombudsman on complaint handling in the NHS. Anything New to Say? Could there be anything... 
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111 user engagement – doing the right thing right

The new “when it’s less urgent than 999″ service – NHS 111 –  is rolling out across England.  Here in Wandsworth NHS 111 goes live in late November this year.   I have expressed reservations before about how well all the “non -urgent care” messages will be... 
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Private vs Public Sector Complaint Handling – Discard the Difference?

Some simple steps for either sector The debate, I think, has moved on and while there may still be differences, I would argue that the assumption is not useful anymore. If an organisation no matter what market sector it inhabits, takes the following simple steps (set out in the presentation by a major... 
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Patient experience letdown

The NHS has published its “Patient Experience Framework”.  Do we need one of these?  That’s the question the Kings’s Fund’s Jocelyn Cornwell poses in her blog.  Yes we do, is our answer – but not this one.  Here’s why. Patient experience is becoming like... 
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Engagement in 2012: a balancing act amidst the sound and fury

Here at MAC we always like to say that the best time to engage with people is when they can see the point of engaging, when there is something to fight for or against.   Number One in the Reasons to Engage Top Ten is “Taking It Away”.   We see this in the NHS – the mere mention that... 
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Dare to Blow the Whistle?

Public Concern at Work –the charity that supports whistleblowers- recently used the launch of their biennal review to pose the question “ Whistleblowing – a right or a duty?”. Val Moore, our Partner on the spot, reported some disturbing contributions from people who had reported concerns... 
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Summer Newsletter: Citizen Result

This has been quite a summer for campaigning and the citizen voice. Most recently I got this email from Ricken Patel of Avaaz showing how a combination of persistence, skill in using modern communication networks and helped by the breaking phone hacking scandal had turned a done deal around. It’s... 
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Ombudsman Direct – the preferred citizen solution

Should people be able to take their complaints direct to the Parliamentary Ombudsman without bothering with their MP? That is the question in a new consultation from Ann Abraham’s office. Our view? ‘If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Get out of the way’.... 
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