Responding to Consultations

The NHSSC is regularly asked to respond to documents that have been issued for public consultation. These are received from a range of organisations and relate to a wide variety of subjects. Several are mentioned below:

Service Changes at Mid-Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals

This consultation was undertaken by United Hospitals Trust as a result of difficulties which related to unacceptable degrees of risk and the proposals had the full support of senior medical staff.

To ascertain public opinion the NHSSC issued a short questionnaire to community groups in the Larne, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey areas and 21 responded. In the Magherafelt and Cookstown areas 10 groups responded. The opportunity was offered to those who responded to attend a Council Meeting to voice their concerns. These were incorporated with other survey comments and the Chief Officer outlined these in a presentation to United Hospitals Trust Board as part of the Council’s response to the consultation.

In its response the NHSSC questioned the Trust’s consultation process, information dissemination and engagement with the public and asked whether the proposals were formulated to meet the needs of the patient. The NHSSC was concerned that:

	the service change timescales were planned in advance to take effect shortly after the consultation closed
	the existing services at Antrim Hospital were under pressure and could have difficulty coping with the additional workload

It was pointed out that other services affected eg primary care, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Services, General Practitioner Out of Hours Services, etc would need to fully support the changes and be resourced to meet the additional demand.

Public concerns related to:

	remaining acute service provision in rural areas west of the Bann and the desire to have options which maintain services locally eg a midwife-led maternity service
	getting equitable access particularly for the elderly and young people and the implications from delays in reaching appropriate care
	scepticism about downgrading local hospitals and saving money
	confidence in Antrim Hospital after recent publicised incidents

Click here to read the full response

Policy of Improvement in Health and Social Services to support the replacement of Braid Valley Hospital, Ballymena and Inver House, Larne

As part of the consultation which proposed to replace Braid Valley in Ballymena and Inver House in Larne with new high quality services and facilities in each area NHSSC members were given a presentation by the Northern Health and Social Services Board which outlined the proposals and accepted an invitation to attend workshops and public meetings.

In its response the NHSSC called for the public consultation process to be extended to enable adequate and meaningful attention to be given to the concerns expressed by general practitioners, other health and social care professionals, Council members and the general public in Larne. Concerns particularly highlighted included:

	availability of services at Antrim Hospital and in the community within the timescales
	lack of public confidence in accepting what was promised for the future and in the consultation process, particularly in the Larne area
	current recruitment difficulties in a range of specialties
	impact of the Review of Public Administration restructuring and the probable return of a Northern Ireland Assembly
	ability of the service to meet increasing demand
	supply of private sector places, particularly in Larne
	continuity of service provision during the building of new Health and Care Centres and the further loss of hospital beds

Click here to read the full response

Complaints in the HPSS

During a joint Council workshop representatives from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety gave a presentation on the background to the complaints process and explained that there were currently five separate complaints processes within the health and social services.

The standard system used for the majority of complaints is Local Resolution then Independent Review and if the outcome is still unsatisfactory for the complainant the complaint can be sent to the Ombudsman.

The new process would see all five complaints processes replaced by one standard process which would include Local Resolution but remove the Independent Review.

Health and Social Services Councils agreed with the principles set out within the paper as guiding the complaints process overall and welcomed the following:

	the acknowledgement by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety that the Health and Personal Social Services Complaints Procedures was in need of a radical review
	the identification of patient satisfaction as the key outcome measure in assessing its effectiveness
	the emphasis on Local Resolution and the recognition of the benefits of this when done well

There were, however, some major points on which the Councils felt strongly that a different approach than that set out in the paper was required. These related to:

	proposals for independent review
	proposals for complaints management in third party or independent contracted services (residential and care homes, GP services and out of hours service)
	guidance on standards in complaints management

The Councils’ response was submitted in the hope and expectation that the proposals would be thoroughly revisited and reviewed. Councils felt they could not support the proposals as they stood as they did not believe that they delivered or were likely to deliver the key stated aims of the review and of the proposed new process.

Click here to read the full response.