Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether complaints about GPs in England can go to mediation.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 governs the National Health Service complaints system. Under the Regulations, those who wish to raise a complaint should raise it with the provider or the commissioner of that service. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response received, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who will make a final decision. The Regulations do not describe a role for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution or for mediation.
Patients can raise concerns directly with the General Medical Council (GMC) if the complaint relates to a doctor, including general practitioners, rather than the operation of a service such as the practice or another health care professional. The GMC’s online complaint form states which matters it can investigate.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why in England the process to complain about GPs differs from the process to complain about doctors in hospitals.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 governs the National Health Service complaints system. Under the Regulations, those who wish to raise a complaint should raise it with the provider or the commissioner of that service. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response received, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who will make a final decision. The Regulations do not describe a role for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution or for mediation.
Patients can raise concerns directly with the General Medical Council (GMC) if the complaint relates to a doctor, including general practitioners, rather than the operation of a service such as the practice or another health care professional. The GMC’s online complaint form states which matters it can investigate.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether patients can use the services of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution when they do not accept the findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 governs the National Health Service complaints system. Under the Regulations, those who wish to raise a complaint should raise it with the provider or the commissioner of that service. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response received, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who will make a final decision. The Regulations do not describe a role for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution or for mediation.
Patients can raise concerns directly with the General Medical Council (GMC) if the complaint relates to a doctor, including general practitioners, rather than the operation of a service such as the practice or another health care professional. The GMC’s online complaint form states which matters it can investigate.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how patients can appeal the outcome of complaints against GPs in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 governs the National Health Service complaints system. Under the Regulations, those who wish to raise a complaint should raise it with the provider or the commissioner of that service. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response received, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who will make a final decision. The Regulations do not describe a role for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution or for mediation.
Patients can raise concerns directly with the General Medical Council (GMC) if the complaint relates to a doctor, including general practitioners, rather than the operation of a service such as the practice or another health care professional. The GMC’s online complaint form states which matters it can investigate.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the complaints system for people raising concerns about care or a care setting.
Answered by Lord Kamall
By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints and those who have experienced poor-quality care have the right to complain to the organisation which provided or paid for the care. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The Care Quality Commission also reviews how providers address complaints when reviewing how responsive and well-led a care home is, in addition to ensuring residents and relatives know how to raise concerns and feel they are listened to. We will keep the potential for further action to improve the complaints system under review.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to grant the Care Quality Commission the authority to investigate individual complaints.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We have no plans to do so. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates individual complaints about adult social care services, whereas the Care Quality Commission monitors, inspects and regulates health and care services to ensure they meet standards of quality and safety. While independent, the two organisations share information where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the role of the Care Quality Commission in addressing (1) residential care home visits being blocked following a complaint being raised, and (2) evictions from residential care homes following a complaint being raised.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Blocking visits or evicting a patient following a complaint being raised would be a breach of existing regulations and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is clear that appropriate action will be taken if it finds a provider has failed in its responsibilities. Any such cases shared with the CQC will be investigated as part of its ongoing monitoring of providers. The CQC reinforces the principle that care homes must enable, rather than restrict, visiting and blanket bans on visiting are unacceptable. The CQC seeks assurances from care home providers on how visits are enabled and verifies this information during inspections.
Although the CQC is not able to address individual complaints, it can direct people to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which can investigate such complaints in all adult care services.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many complaints have been made to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman on local authority's handing of Assets of Community Value; and what the outcomes of those complaints were.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their Assets of Community Value scheme is run in accordance with the legislation set out in Part 3 Chapter 5 of the Localism Act 2011 and the Assets of Community Regulations 2012.
Under the existing scheme a community nomination rejected by a council would not be able to appeal the council’s decision. The department does not collect information on complaints raised with the Social Care Ombudsman by community groups about unsuccessful Assets of Community Value nominations or the outcomes of these decision. The department also does not provide guidance to the Social Care on the Assets of Community Value scheme.
The right of appeal against a council decision is only available to the owner of the asset. The right of independent appeal to a Tribunal ensures fairness to landowners and ensures that a council decision may be subject to impartial scrutiny.
As part of the Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships, announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government will consider how the existing Assets of Community Value Scheme can be enhanced and consult on options to go further to support community ownership.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided guidance to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman on provisions relating to assets of community value in the (a) Localism Act 2011 and (b) Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their Assets of Community Value scheme is run in accordance with the legislation set out in Part 3 Chapter 5 of the Localism Act 2011 and the Assets of Community Regulations 2012.
Under the existing scheme a community nomination rejected by a council would not be able to appeal the council’s decision. The department does not collect information on complaints raised with the Social Care Ombudsman by community groups about unsuccessful Assets of Community Value nominations or the outcomes of these decision. The department also does not provide guidance to the Social Care on the Assets of Community Value scheme.
The right of appeal against a council decision is only available to the owner of the asset. The right of independent appeal to a Tribunal ensures fairness to landowners and ensures that a council decision may be subject to impartial scrutiny.
As part of the Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships, announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government will consider how the existing Assets of Community Value Scheme can be enhanced and consult on options to go further to support community ownership.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what process his Department has in place to ensure that evolving local authority Assets of Community Value (ACV) policy and its application is consistent with the requirements of the (a) Localism Act 2011, (b) 2012 ACV Guidance and (c) First Tier Tribunals.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their Assets of Community Value scheme is run in accordance with the legislation set out in Part 3 Chapter 5 of the Localism Act 2011 and the Assets of Community Regulations 2012.
Under the existing scheme a community nomination rejected by a council would not be able to appeal the council’s decision. The department does not collect information on complaints raised with the Social Care Ombudsman by community groups about unsuccessful Assets of Community Value nominations or the outcomes of these decision. The department also does not provide guidance to the Social Care on the Assets of Community Value scheme.
The right of appeal against a council decision is only available to the owner of the asset. The right of independent appeal to a Tribunal ensures fairness to landowners and ensures that a council decision may be subject to impartial scrutiny.
As part of the Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships, announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government will consider how the existing Assets of Community Value Scheme can be enhanced and consult on options to go further to support community ownership.