4. Mr M complains about the time it took the ICB to respond to a complaint he made in July 2022 and about poor communication from the ICB during the complaints process.
5. Mr M says the significant delay in a response, added to his distress at an already difficult time when his mother was ill and caused uncertainty and frustration.
6. Mr M wants to see service improvements in the ICB’s complaints handling process.
7. Mr M raised his complaint with the ICB in July 2022 about several organisations involved in his late mother’s care. He received a final response in February 2023. He complained to the ICB in August 2023 about the length of time it took to respond to his complaint and about a lack of clear and timely communication.
10. Before we decide if we should conduct a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the event complained about had a negative effect which the organisation has not put right. Having done so, we have found the ICB has already done enough to put right the impact of these events.
11. In his complaint, Mr M explained the ICB’s website says it aims to respond to complaints within 28 working days of receiving consent. Mr M said it took the ICB seven months to respond to his complaint.
12. In its complaint response, the ICB explained it aims to provide a response to a complaint within either 25, 40 or 65 working days, depending on the complexity of it. The ICB explained Mr M’s complaint involved several organisations and due to delays in receiving responses from the organisations, it took longer to provide a coordinated response to Mr M.
13. The NHS regulations set the relevant requirements for NHS organisations when dealing with complaints. It says where possible, organisations should respond to complaints within 6 months. We can see the ICB has acknowledged that it did not meet this timeframe and explained the reasons for this. We understand this caused uncertainty and frustration for Mr M.
14. Our complaint standards say public organisations should look for continuous improvement and use the lessons learnt from complaints, to make sure they do not repeat poor service and apologise when things go wrong.
15. We reviewed the responses the ICB provided to Mr M in October 2023 and January 2024.
16. It acknowledged there was a significant delay in providing a response to Mr M and apologised to him for the service he received, including lack of consistent communication.
17. At the time, the ICB said it was reviewing its complaints policy and procedures, to understand how it could make improvements for both patients and providers. It provided Mr M with information about how to feed his views into this or future reviews.
18. It completed this review in January 2024 and the ICB’s complaints policy can be viewed on its website, and this refers to both the NHS regulations and our complaint standards. The ICB’s complaints policy provides information about how it will complete complaint investigations, and the response timescales.
19. It also says that when complaints involve more than one organisation, it will ensure that it is led by the most appropriate organisation and handled in a coordinated manner. This will hopefully lead to fewer delays in responses being put together.
20. In its complaint response, the ICB also explained to Mr M that where possible, it tries to provide a response to complaints within 25 working days. If this is not possible due to the complexity of the complaint, or the number of organisations involved, it will agree and communicate a target date with complainants. This should ensure that the ICB provides complainants with a realistic timeframe when they can expect to receive a response.
21. The ICB also said its standard operating procedures and communication plans, were under review to ensure all members of staff acknowledge and respond to complaints in a timely manner.
22. The ICB complaints policy explains that staff dealing with complaints will keep the complainant updated on progress at agreed intervals, advising when a response can be expected. This should help to improve communication and transparency with complainants.
23. We recognise Mr M made his complaint to the ICB when his late mother was ill, and this was a hard time for him. We think the actions taken by the ICB, put right what went wrong. We hope this provides some reassurance to Mr M that the ICB has taken his concerns seriously and it has made improvements to its complaints handling process.
1. We have carefully considered Mr M’s complaint about the ICB. We have decided the ICB has already done enough to put right the impact of these events on Mr M.
2. We acknowledge how important Mr M’s complaint is to him and understand this has been a difficult time.
3. We have reviewed the way the ICB handled his complaint. We think the ICB has already taken appropriate steps to put right what went wrong. Therefore, we have decided we do not need to take any further action on Mr M’s complaint. We explain the reasons for our decision below.