R33 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Nursing complaint investigation

Recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that where a complaint is made about nursing practice on a ward this complaint is investigated by an independent senior member of Nursing Management.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Scottish Government, this recommendation was accepted, acknowledging past issues with complaint management. According to the available evidence, while the NHS Scotland Complaints Handling Procedure was revised and standardised across all health boards, the specific requirement for complaints about nursing practice to be investigated by an independent senior member of Nursing Management was addressed through general complaints reform rather than a dedicated mechanism; furthermore, according to the available evidence, no further published evidence has been identified since 2015.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.gov.scot, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Scottish Government
18 Jun 2015

Section 4.1 of the Scottish Government's response acknowledges the report's finding of 'poor complaint management by nursing teams,' which forms the substance of recommendation 33. While the response generally accepts recommendations relating to nursing care, it does not explicitly detail a specific policy or mechanism for complaints about nursing practice on a ward to be investigated by an independent senior member of Nursing Management. However, Section 2.1 and 4.2 refer to the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, which details patients' rights to make complaints, and the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) as an independent body providing information for patients dealing with NHSScotland.

Read Full Response
Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Reasonable Progress
18 Jun 2015
Scottish Government Other

Scottish Government response addressed complaint investigation requirements. NHS Scotland Complaints Handling Procedure was revised and standardised across all health boards.

View detailed findings

Complaints handling procedures reformed but specific requirement for independent senior nursing investigation of nursing complaints was addressed through general complaints reform rather than specific mechanism.

Scottish Government Response to Vale of Leven Inq… View Source
Source
Inquiry Vale of Leven Inquiry
Report The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report 24 Nov 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
NHS Health Boards (Scotland) Primary
Themes & Tags
Complaint record keeping failures Quality and safety oversight Complaints Nursing
Recommendation age 11.3 yrs
Last formal update 3932 days ago