People Shouldn't Have To Jump Through Hoops To Complain About Care, Says Help The Aged, UK

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 10 Oct 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Reacting to a National Audit Office report, Feeding Back? Learning from complaints handling in Health and Social Care, which shows the complaints system for health and social care services is in need of improvement, Lizzie McLennan, Senior Social Care Policy Officer for Help the Aged, says:

"Today's report shows that worryingly, complaining about health and social care services can be a difficult and complex experience. As the largest users of health and social care services, older people are going to be particularly affected.

"People who make complaints about either health or social care services are likely to already be in a vulnerable position. When older people are poorly or need care, the last thing they need is to feel like they can't complain, have nowhere to turn, or have to jump through hoops to have their issues heard. Sometimes making a complaint can be as frustrating and upsetting as the original problem.

"In addition to this, older people who pay for their own care in private care homes don't have access to the complaints system for social care. This inequity in the system must be addressed - around 115,000 older people are affected in this way(1).

"If care for sick people isn't satisfactory, it's essential that complaints are acted upon straight away - that way lessons can be learned and mistakes aren't repeated. The complaints system for our health and social care services must be transparent, open and well promoted - and reducing the complexity of both systems is an absolute must. Ideally we would like to see one complaints system for both health and social care."

Notes

Of residents in care homes operated by private or voluntary organisations (373,000), 31% pay all their own care costs (115,000); 59% have fees wholly or partially funded by local authorities (221,000), and 10% by the NHS (37,000). (23% of nursing home residents are funded by the NHS, who do not fund residential care residents.) Source: Care of Elderly People UK Market Survey 2007 - Twentieth Edition, Laing and Buisson, 2007

Help the Aged produces an information sheet, aimed at people who are having problems with their care home, local council, or the NHS. How to Make a Complaint, is available from http://www.helptheaged.org.uk or 020 7239 1845

Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation, neglect and ageism. It campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues affecting older people and to bring about policy change. The Charity delivers a range of services: information and advice, home support and community living, including international development work. These are supported by its paid-for services and fundraising activities - which aim to increase funding in the future to respond to the growing unmet needs of disadvantaged older people. Help the Aged also funds vital research into the health issues and experiences of older people to improve the quality of later life.

Help the Aged urgently needs donations and support to help it in the increasingly challenging fight to free disadvantaged older people from poverty, isolation and neglect.

Help the Aged