Effective complaints handling
Mid Staffs Inquiry · Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry · Issued 6 February 2013 · Addressed to: Healthcare providers
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Methods of registering a comment or complaint must be readily accessible and easily understood. Multiple gateways need to be provided to patients, both during their treatment and after its conclusion, although all such methods should trigger a uniform process, generally led by the provider trust.
Mid Staffs Inquiry, Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry · 6 Feb 2013 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The NHS Constitution (revised 2023) includes the right to have any complaint about NHS services acknowledged within three working days and properly investigated, and the right to discuss the manner in which the complaint is to be handled. It also includes the right to have the complaint dealt with efficiently and investigated properly (NHS Constitution, DHSC, January 2021 with 2023 updates).
- The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) published the NHS Complaint Standards in July 2022, setting out expectations for how NHS organisations should handle complaints. The standards include requirements for accessible complaints processes with multiple routes for providing feedback, and for organisations to make it "as easy as possible for people to raise concerns and make complaints" (NHS Complaint Standards, PHSO, July 2022).
- NHS England published complaint handling guidance requiring providers to offer multiple channels for complaints including in person, by telephone, in writing, by email, and through online forms. The Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) provide an additional gateway for patients to raise concerns during and after treatment (NHS complaints guidance, NHS England).
Response — verbatim from government
●Department of Health and Social Care
The government published "Hard Truths: the Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) on 19 November 2013, responding to all 290 recommendations of the Francis Report. This followed an initial response "Patients First and Foremost" in March 2013. Key reforms included a new Chief Inspector of Hospitals, strengthened Care Quality Commission inspection regime, a statutory duty of candour, and the fit and proper person test for NHS directors. Volume 2 (Cm 8754) contains the government's detailed responses to each of the 290 recommendations. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7cd486ed915d63cc65d167/34658_Cm_8777_Vol_1_accessible.pdf
Department of Health and Social Care · 19 Nov 2013 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 6 Feb 2023 · Academic Review - Ten Years After Francis Research published 2023 marking ten years since the Francis Report found mixed results. Structural and legislative changes largely delivered (duty of candour, FPPR, CQC overhaul, revalidation, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians). However, cultural change not fully embedded; understaffing, fear of speaking up, and poor complaint handling persist in parts of the NHS. View source → Reasonable Progress
- 1 Apr 2022 · PHSO - NHS Complaint Standards PHSO developed NHS Complaint Standards framework providing consistent approach to complaint handling across NHS. Piloted 2021-2022, introduced across NHS from 2022. Applies to all NHS organisations and independent healthcare providers delivering NHS-funded care. View source → Confirmed Completed
- 11 Feb 2015 · UK Government - Culture Change in the NHS Government published "Culture Change in the NHS" (Cm 9009) reporting progress on all 290 recommendations. Key achievements: 19 hospitals placed in special measures; those trusts recruited 109 additional doctors and 1,805 additional nurses; 129 board-level changes made; excess avoidable deaths fell by 450 in less than a year. View source → Good Progress
- 19 Nov 2013 · UK Government - Hard Truths Vol 1 & 2 Government published "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) in two volumes. Vol 1 set out new actions; Vol 2 provided detailed response to each of the 290 recommendations. Approximately 204 of 290 recommendations were fully accepted. View source → Good Progress
- 28 Oct 2013 · UK Government - Clwyd-Hart Review Ann Clwyd MP and Professor Tricia Hart published review of NHS hospital complaints handling on 28 October 2013. Key recommendations: Chief Executives must sign off complaint responses; Trust Boards must scrutinise complaints; trusts must publish annual complaints reports in plain English. View source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.