Welcome to SPSO News. In his overview, the Ombudsman highlights:
- concerns about the way in which the water industry assessed a couple's liability for charges for their business premises; and
- two more SPSO 2013/14 complaints reports - one about housing and housing providers, and the other about the water industry in Scotland.
This month we are laying five reports before the Scottish Parliament – three about the NHS, one about local government and one about the water industry. We are also laying a report on 90 decisions about all of the sectors under our remit. These can be read on our website at www.spso.org.uk/our-findings.
Case numbers
Last month (in November), we received 438 complaints. We determined 416 complaints and of these we:
- gave advice on 242 complaints
- considered 130 complaints at our early resolution stage
- decided 44 complaints at our investigation stage.
We made a total of 131 recommendations.
Overview
Complaint investigation reports
In the water sector, I report on a case involving a couple who were repeatedly told that they had to pay water charges for a small building in their garden from which they operated a business (201304505). Although the building had no water connection, when Business Stream found out that the business was operating from there, they said that water charges were due. When the couple disputed the invoices they eventually received, Business Stream explained why they thought they were due to pay. However, in doing so they relied on information provided by Scottish Water, which they had not checked and which I found was not supported by water industry guidance and legislation.
Businesses regularly complain to me that they are wrongly being charged for water consumption. Some of these complaints are reported in my annual report for the water sector, which I discuss in the next section. Each case is different and is determined on its own particular circumstances. In this case, I was particularly concerned that a water provider insisted that charges were due for a building that had no water connections and for which they had already agreed no drainage charges were due. Even more concerning is the fact that they did so without exploring or testing the information and explanation that Scottish Water provided. During my investigation, Scottish Water remedied the injustice to the couple, saying that they would cancel all the charges. However, until I became involved, both they and Business Stream had maintained that charges were due, and so I continued to investigate because I believed that there was a wider public interest in doing so. I ultimately found that the charges were not in line with water industry rules. In effect, Business Stream were trying to charge the business for a service that they did not provide, which I found unacceptable. As well as making recommendations, I say in my report that I believe that Business Stream and Scottish Water should clarify a legal interpretation that they attempted to use to justify the charges.
The complaints I report on about the NHS involve failure to diagnose and treat a blood infection and to provide appropriate nursing care (201303932), a delay in diagnosis and in providing appropriate care to a cancer patient (201305802) and, as last month, a failure to risk assess a vulnerable adult in hospital (201305924). Each case involved significant distress for the patients involved and their families. I repeat my comments from last month that NHS boards in Scotland should read these reports carefully and take steps to ensure that the failings outlined in them are prevented from happening in their board area.
The final complaint is about how a council dealt with an allegation of examination malpractice against a secondary school pupil (201303999). The pupil’s father complained that the council failed to follow Scottish Qualifications Authority guidance. I upheld the complaint and made several recommendations to the council. I would urge all education departments and schools and other centres to take heed of this complaint and ensure that they have appropriate procedures in place.
Annual sectoral reports
We recently issued our annual complaints reports about housing and water for 2013/14. In both sectors the number of complaints received too early dropped, but the rate of complaints upheld rose.
Housing sector
Complaints about housing rose by 16% to 797 – 56% were about local authorities and 44% about housing associations, with repairs and maintenance and complaints about neighbour disputes and anti-social behaviour topping the list. We determined 817 complaints, with the rate of cases we upheld rising from 43% to 53%. We fully investigated 93 complaints and made 106 recommendations for redress and improvement. Despite the rise in complaints received, I was pleased to see a reduction in the number of housing complaints that reached us too early – down from 52% to 43%– although this is still well above the overall rate across all complaints received (34%). A number of people told us that the reason they came to us early was because they did not know about or found it hard to complete the complaints process of the organisation concerned. This means that authorities in the sector must ensure that they make it as easy as possible for people to access their complaints process, and ensure that staff are aware of it and of how to recognise and deal with complaints at the front line. Download the 2013-14 Housing complaints report (PDF, 910KB)
Water sector
We received 292 complaints, with 70% of these coming from businesses, and we dealt with 314 complaints. I was pleased to be able to point to a reduction in the number of complaints reaching us about the water industry, going against the general trend of an increase in complaints about other areas. 67% of the complaints we received about water providers were about billing and charging. It remains notable that by far the most complaints received are from businesses and that we continue to see a lack of understanding among business owners of their legal obligations. We fully investigated 90 complaints and made 102 recommendations. Despite the reduction in numbers received, the rate of upheld complaints also rose in this sector, from 45% to 52%, with a very large percentage of these being about Business Stream, continuing a trend that we identified last year. We have continued to engage with the company to help them address this and to improve their complaints handling. Another feature I point out is an increase in the number of new licensed providers that have opted to come under our jurisdiction. Although this has had very little impact on the complaints we have seen so far, it indicates a change in the market place that we will monitor to identify any changes in the profile of the complaints we receive. Download the 2013-14 Water complaints report (492KB).
Prisons sector
Earlier today, we also issued our prisons complaints report. Download the 2013-14 Prisons complaints report (PDF, 434KB).
Read my Overview and summary of today's investigation reports in PDF (151KB) or via the links below.
"I find it entirely reasonable ... to apply charges for water used for commercial purposes. However, it would not be reasonable to apply charges ... for a service that they have not provided."
Incorrect billing, communication
Business Stream (201304505)
> Read full report (PDF, 75KB)
> Read summary (PDF, 42KB)
"Although I have acknowledged the complaint's complexity, I have also considered matters from Mr and Mrs C's perspective; having lost their daughter and raised concerns about her care and treatment, their feeling that they had to repeatedly take the initiative with the Board did little to reassure them that their concerns were being addressed with reasonable transparency and efficiency in all the circumstances."
Diagnosis, clinical treatment, nursing care, complaints handling
Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board (201303932)
> Read full report (PDF, 89KB)
> Read summary (PDF, 37KB)
"The issues arising from this incident are not solely related to the error of an individual clinician and are indicative of system errors in the process for reporting abnormal results of routine tests. The process described by the Board is not considered to be sufficiently robust and ... this is a matter that requires further attention and review by the Board."
Delay in diagnosis, clinical treatment, follow-up care
Lanarkshire NHS Board (201305802)
> Read full report (PDF, 69KB)
> Read summary (PDF, 43KB)
"Mrs A's increasing frailty and her first fall should reasonably have alerted staff to her increasing falls risk. Had staff taken appropriate action, this may have averted Mrs A's second fall, in which she suffered significant injuries."
Nursing care, risk assessment
Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board area (201305924)
> Read full report (PDF, 75KB)
> Read summary (PDF, 36KB)
"While the Council and school were clear that pupils were in no doubt that cheating was unacceptable … and I accept this, I have seen no evidence that Mr A was informed of his rights in terms of SQA advice, either before, during or after the meeting. … This runs contrary to the guidance provided."
Education: secondary school pupil, policy/administration
The Highland Council (201303999)
> Read full report (PDF, 74KB)
> Read summary (PDF, 44KB)
Complaints Standards Authority
NHS complaints handling
We continue to engage with key partners on the Scottish Health Council (SHC)’s report of their review of NHS complaints handling ‘Listening and Learning’ which reported in April 2014. The report made recommendations relevant to SPSO, about developing a standardised model complaints handling procedure in the NHS as well as training, good complaints culture and accessibility for complainants. We remain in discussions with the Scottish Government and SHC on our proposals to take forward the recommendation that the CSA lead on the development of a standardised process for the NHS, with a focus on increasing early resolution. We will engage with NHS partners over the coming months to progress work on this, including participating in a Scottish Government NHS stakeholder event on 30 January 2015 which will provide a briefing on ‘key national developments in encouraging and responding to feedback and complaints’. The event will also provide an opportunity to explore best practice, share progress and learn from experience across Scotland. It is aimed towards those with executive responsibility for feedback and complaints, clinical leads with a role in feedback and complaints and those with management responsibility for complaints systems and processes.
Local government
We have reported in each of our last five updates the requirement for all local authorities to submit their 2013/14 annual complaints report to us. While we have still not seen all reports, from those we have reviewed we are encouraged to see the vast majority of complaints being handled and resolved at the frontline stage of the handling procedure (CHP). The information is providing valuable data that can be used to help finalise the sector’s benchmarking of complaints performance methodology, including the agreed approach of adopting ‘families’ of similar local authorities. Once again we remind all local authorities that have not already done so to provide their 2013/14 annual complaints report to csa@spso.org.uk
Local authority complaints handlers' network
The network met at the end of October 2014. The meeting focused on the next steps for benchmarking complaints information, including the pilot of benchmarking against the indicators and the agreed approach of adopting 'families’ of similar local authorities. Members were also presented with key findings of a survey of the network, undertaken to obtain feedback from councils about the systems used across local government, processes for recording complaints, whether complaints handling was devolved to services or centralised, where complaints information was published and reported, and key areas of activity in terms of training/guidance/reporting or other functions. Details of the survey and its findings were shared through the knowledge hub. This was set up in March 2014 and is administered by North Lanarkshire Council, who provided an update on its use to date. 28 councils have now joined the hub and all other councils are encouraged to register with it, as it will be the main source for all future information for members about the network.
The complaints surgery (held at each network meeting) discussed complaints about political decisions, the handling of complaints for arms-length external organisations and school complaints. In respect of school complaints, Perth and Kinross Council reported that guidance they had produced to assist head teachers with this process would be shared with the network through the knowledge hub. We have been in correspondence with the Association of Directors of Education (ADES) to arrange further discussions around the operation of themodel CHP in schools. Other issues covered at the meeting included the forthcoming publication of the SPSO unacceptable actions guidance, research into financial redress, a proposed cross-sectoral conference for public sector complaints handlers, and the Scottish Tribunals and Administrative Justice Advisory Committee and its role in developing excellence in administrative justice in Scotland. Further network meetings have been arranged for January and March.
Housing
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) have published information on all Registered Social Landlords’ (RSL) annual returns on the Scottish Social Housing Charter. This provides all of the data from each RSL on how they are performing against the outcomes of the charter as outlined in the SHR’s indicators, including in relation to complaints volumes. RSLs should also report on their complaints handling performance in line with SPSO model CHP requirements and self-assessment complaints indicators for the housing sector, developed in association with the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Scottish Housing Best Value Network (SHBVN) and HouseMark.
We are engaging with the SHR to assess how we can further support the sector in improving their complaints handling and benchmarking complaints handling performance. We have also liaised with key players in the sector to explore the potential for the housing complaints handlers network to reconvene early in the new year. We will update the Valuing Complaints web site and contact network members when more information is available.
SHBVN are holding an event in January 2015 to outline some of their RSL members’ findings on performance trends from benchmarking. This covers all elements of the Social Housing Charter including complaints and feedback. SHBVN are a national social landlord benchmarking forum in Scotland, with over two thirds of all social landlords as members. We engaged with them in developing our guidance on performance indicators in 2013.
Further education
The ‘Guide to Implementation’ for the further education model complaints handling procedure (PDF, 99KB) explained that from 2013/14 colleges would be required to publish complaints handling performance
information against a range of high level performance indicators related to the CHP. This is designed to help colleges assure themselves of how they are performing against the model CHP, to provide transparency and facilitate continuous improvement and benchmarking between colleges. Earlier this year, working with the further education complaints advisory group, we developed, and shared with the Quality Steering Group, further guidance on key performance indicators. The indicators provide the minimum requirement for a college to self-assess and report on performance, and to undertake benchmarking activities.
The Quality Steering Group met earlier this month and agreed that the complaints advisory group would host a benchmarking workshop in early 2015. To prepare for this workshop, colleges are asked to send their 2013/14 annual complaints performance report, which demonstrates their complaints performance against the performance indicators, to the SPSO at csa@spso.org.uk by 9 January 2015. Further information on the indicators and the requirements to report performance can be provided by emailing csa@spso.org.uk
Higher education
As with other sectors, we remind all universities of the requirement to report on their complaints handling performance annually in line with SPSO requirements, as documented in the ‘Guide to Implementation’
for the higher education model complaints handling procedure (PDF, 99KB). As with other sectors, we are asking all higher education institutions to provide us with a link to their published annual complaints report by sending this to csa@spso.org.uk
For all previous updates, and for further information in relation to CHPs, visit our dedicated website www.valuingcomplaints.org.uk. The CSA can also be contacted directly at csa@spso.org.uk
Training
Our next open training course for staff handling second-stage complaints (Investigation Skills) is on Thursday 26 February 2015 in central Edinburgh.
For more information and to book spaces, please contact training@spso.org.uk
Jim Martin, Ombudsman | 19 December 2014
