PHSO: Complaint Standards Framework. Summary of core expectations for NHS organisations and staff

Summary

The Framework sets out a single set of standards for staff to follow and provides standards for leaders to help them capture and act on the learning from complaints. 

This is a draft Framework developed with partners across the health sector and PHSO are keen to hear people's views on the draft so they can improve it. The online survey can be found here. 

Content

This version of the Framework is for:

• All NHS staff, including all clinical and non-clinical staff and senior leaders, to:
• provide a clear vision of how to approach feedback and complaints effectively
• set out how they should approach learning from complaints to improve services.  
• Everyone who provides feedback or makes a complaint about the NHS, and the people who support, advise or advocate for them. It sets out what they can expect to see and experience when doing so.
• NHS staff who are being complained about. It will make sure they are supported and that the complaint is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a finger-pointing exercise. 

The Framework is built on the following four principles: 

• Promoting and learning and improvement culture.
• Positively seeking feedback.
• Being thorough and fair.
• Giving fair and accountable decisions.