Nursing complaint investigation
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.
- The Scottish Government's response acknowledged the report's finding of 'poor complaint management by nursing teams' and the need for independent investigation of complaints about nursing practice.
- The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 established a complaints process for NHS Scotland, with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) as the final stage of the complaints process. The NHS Scotland model complaints handling procedure sets out standards for complaint investigation.
- However, the specific recommendation that complaints about nursing practice on a ward should be investigated by an independent senior member of Nursing Management is a matter of local implementation within each NHS board. While the framework supports independent investigation, the consistency of implementation across all wards and boards is difficult to verify from published sources.
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland's inspection programme includes assessment of complaints handling, providing some external assurance.
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedSection 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.
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
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.