Complaints down at Shropshire health bodies

The trust which controls Shropshire's two main hospitals received a total of 73 formal complaints in the first half of the year.

This compares to the 100 complaints Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SaTH) received in the same period last year.

At a meeting of the SaTH board at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, Sarah Bloomfield, director of nursing and quality at the trust, highlighted the steady reduction in formal complaints.

She said: "We are pleased to see an improvement in the amount of complaints.

"But 73 complaints are still 73 complaints and these need to be looked at in detail. We are not complacent and there is still work to be done.

"Themes from complaints help us to identify where there can be improvement.

"We have just picked up an issue with pain management, which continues to feature of complaints, and are improving on that."

At the meeting on Thursday, the board also heard the trust is continuing to maintain a high performance in responding to complaints with 92 per cent of complaints being closed within the agreed timescales.

A paper presented to the board said the complaints relating to diagnosis and treatment included missed fractures and delays in diagnosis.

The report stated: "Patient care issues include food/fluids left out of reach, call bell left out of reach, falls, pressure, ulcer care and care needs not adequately met.

"Nursing issues have shown a steady fall over the last few quarters.

"Issues that continue to be highlighted in complaints are pain relief, hygiene, record keeping, failure to act on abnormal results, failure to record fluid balance, falls, noise at night and discharge planning."

The number of complaints Shropshire Community Health Board has also decreased.

At its meeting in Whitchurch on Thursday it was revealed that the health board had 71 complaints in 2013/14 and 78 in 2014/15 – which shows a reduction of 9 per cent.

Themes picked up from these complaints included time taken to get an appointment and patients unhappy with the treatment given.

A report presented to the board said: "Communication issues also feature as secondary issues in several of the complaints. The second and third highest areas are Shropshire Dental Services and Stoke Heath Prison.

"At Stoke Heath Prison all six complaints relate to the changes in medication practice to reduce the use of opiate based, and other medications."