Complaints about health and social care should be taken more seriously, says the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
A new CQC report finds there is a wide variation in the way complaints were handled across the NHS, primary care and adult social care services in England.
The report, Complaints Matter, looks at feedback and concerns the CQC received, its own inspection reports and information from providers, such as GP practices, care homes and hospitals.
The CQC says:
"We consider that much more could be done to encourage an open culture where concerns are welcomed, particularly as high numbers of providers in these sectors report that they receive very few or no complaints at all."
It adds that people could be put off making complaints about care because providers were not willing to listen to concerns. This could mean opportunities were being missed to improve the quality of care provided.
The CQC maintains that:
“Our new and more thorough methods of reviewing complaints handling will allow inspectors to get a more comprehensive picture of the state of complaints. We will continue to review inspection findings and refine our methods if necessary.
We will continue to work closely with partners to develop a listening culture that encourages and embraces complaints and concerns as opportunities to improve the quality of care.”
Complaints Matter is available @ http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/complaints-matter