Agenda item

[To receive a report from the RWHT on the Patient Advice and Liaison Service].

[Alison Dowling - Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement to present report].

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust presented a report on the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).  The team had undergone a restructure in September 2017.  The Trust’s policy set the complaints completion to be within thirty working days, beyond that timeframe they had the ability to negotiate with the complainant for an extension.  A considerable amount of work on the compliance rate had taken place at the Trust over the last three years, which used to stand at 63% but for almost the whole of the financial year now stood at 100%.  All complaints that were received by the Trust were now triaged by the central complaints team.  The volume of complaints stood at almost the same as the previous six months. There had been 205 complaints compared to the previous six months of 203.  They reported to NHS Digital on a quarterly basis on how they were performing on their complaint outcomes.  The national average for complaints upheld on NHS Digital stood at 33.6%, the Trust upheld rate was considerably lower. 

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement commented that they had introduced a new telephony system which had greatly assisted in the resolution of complaints.  PALS Concerns had steadily reduced over the last two years and the first six months of 2018 had indicated a reduction in volume of 40% from a six-monthly average of 928 (July –December 2017) to 553 for the first six months of 2018.  She displayed a video of a Patient Story, it was of a woman who had been a sickle cell patient at the Trust for many years.  Collecting Patient Stories was an important component in understanding how patients perceived the health care they have received and how the Trust could improve on the many different aspects of service delivery in their hospitals, and community-based health care programs.

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement stated that the report detailed some actions for 2019.  These included: -

a)    Strengthening relationships with patient communities including increased Patient and user engagement.

b)    Reviewing and enhancing the use of volunteers to aid a positive patient experience.

c)     To be amongst the highest performing Trust’s regionally and nationally in relation to the Friends and Family Test.

The Trust regularly met with key stakeholders to share patient feedback and learning.  Reports were presented to the CCG on a quarterly basis.  Staff from PALS attended the JEAG (Joint Engagement Assurance Group) which had representatives from the CCG and Healthwatch. 

A Member of the Panel asked how people could be referred to the Trust if they were expressing an interest in the Council of Members.  The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement responded that there were leaflets and the Trust did hold drop-in sessions.  She agreed to send Healthwatch some leaflets, so they could be distributed. 

A Member of the Panel asked if there was a point of contact in reference to a bullet point in the report stating, “To undertake public consultations on key issues before service delivery change. The Trust are keen to involve local people in decisions which will determine how healthcare is provided”.  In response, the Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement responded that the person who normally fulfilled the role had recently just left the Trust.  They did however have someone part time fulfilling the role and she would pass their contact details to the Chair of Healthwatch.  A Member of the Panel asked if there could be a timetable of events or topics available on the website to make the information more easily accessible.

A Member of the Panel stated there were no statistics on feedback in the report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.  The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement commented that these could easily be provided.  In 2018, the Trust had gone through a six-month period where no complaint had been fully upheld by the Ombudsman.  They only had three complaints that were partially upheld.  They had every confidence in their complaint handling.  The Chief Executive signed all complaint responses in person. 

The Chair of Healthwatch stated she felt Healthwatch had a good relationship with the PALS team.  It was also reassuring to know that the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Board were shown patient story videos. 

The Chair asked what was underlining the fact that the Trust’s partially upheld complaint figure was much lower than the national average.  The Chief Executive of the Trust responded that it was due to the highly effective nature and robustness of the Head of the PALS team.  A strict check list was followed to ensure complaints were fully answered.