Activities: Complaints and Enquiries

As awareness of our services grows there is more demand on us to provide information, advice and support to people on all aspects of health and social services.

The past year saw a record 1320 contacts. These related to general enquiries, complaints about health and social services and hits to our website.

The graph below shows the number of enquiries and complaints over the last 4 years.

The main issues raised by people who asked us for help in making a complaint were::

Treatment and Care Waiting Lists - Outpatients Appointment Systems

Care Management and Care Packages Staff Attitudes

It is important to note, as only a percentage of people making a complaint approach us for assistance, these figures should not be regarded as an accurate reflection of the total number of complaints from people in the northern area.

Our Information/Complaints Officer, Jackie McNeill has been busy spreading the word to health and social care staff on their role in the complaints process. United Hospitals and Causeway Trust have already included us in their complaints training programme.

We want all staff to welcome complaints and to view them as a valuable source of information to develop and improve their service.

Remember we cannot provide information on benefits - this is the responsibility of local social security offices.