Low number of health and social care complaints causes concerns in Moray

Concerns have been raised over the low number of complaints made on health and social care services in Moray.

From October 1 to December 31 last year, only 18 complaints were made – three to Moray Council and 15 to the NHS – including eight relating to the out-of-hours service.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of Moray Integration Board clinical care and governance committee.

Ivan Augustus, the carers representative on the committee, said the 18 complaints did not tally with his experience when talking to people in the community

Meanwhile, Elgin North councillor Frank Brown said: “My inbox is full of complaints including the maternity service at Dr Gray’s, people unable to access GPs and complaints about home care, but they’re not mentioned here.

“Have people stopped complaining?

He outlined an example of an elderly person in Aboyne who phoned an ambulance during the night because of an asthma attack, but it did not arrive until 8am and the crew had been dispatched from Elgin.

Corporate manager for Moray Health and Social Care (MHSC) Janette Netherwood told the meeting complaints were often resolved at an early stage, while those who were still dissatisfied were given information on how to progress their grievance.

Chief officer for MHSC, Simon Bokor-Ingram, added that complaints could come to the service from a variety of different sources and it could be difficult to get them to the right contact, but it was important to record them as they lead to service improvements.

Members agreed further reports should be clearer on what particular complaints related to, and for a representative from the GMED service to give a presentation on their complaints recording practices to a future meeting.