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Complaints
• Support from the Local Authority including short
breaks services, holiday play schemes, care at home,
aids and adaptations, financial help with travel costs During 2017/18 the Trust received a total of 89 formal
to hospital, direct payments; complaints, five of which were withdrawn. One
additional complaint was also investigated using the
• Welfare Benefits including disability living allowance, root cause analysis (RCA) process, following the Trust’s
carers allowance, child tax credit, blue badges and
Being Open policy and application of the Duty of
motability scheme; Candour as appropriate. This was identified during the
• Education and Health Care Plans; very initial stage of the complaints process. 83 formal
complaints were therefore investigated and responded
• Disability discrimination (particularly in relation to to.
education provision);
• Family breakdown. There was a 20% increase of formal complaints in year
compared with 2016/17; whilst this represents a higher
Parents received initial verbal advice from a number than previous years, the increase is associated
qualified solicitor followed by a letter confirming and with the overall increase in activity at the Trust in the
summarising the advice. year.

The clinic was set up as a pilot in the summer of 2017 Formal Complaints
and has continued to gather momentum with uptake
increasing incrementally; it has now been offered
for three blocks of four weeks and will return to the 200
183
hospital in the autumn when the new academic year 180
commences. 166
160
The project was runner up in the Attorney General’s 140 134
120 120
best new pro bono project category in April 2018, which 120 108
was a significant achievement as there were many
100
entries from across the UK. The University and the law 83
80 70 66
students themselves are very proud of what has been
created at Alder Hey and the help they are able to give 60
to parents and carers. 40

20
0
2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013 /2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016 /2017 2017/2018

Table 1 – Formal Complaints Received Each Year

The Trust has continued to support families directly
in the clinical areas, providing early intervention when
concerns are raised. This will continue to be a key
focus area in the coming year to ensure that real-time
intervention and actions for parents and carers with
concerns are addressed in a timely manner.

A higher proportion of complaints received by the Trust
this year have been very complex, given Alder Hey’s
status as a specialist tertiary centre; many of these
involve children whose care has been provided by
multiple specialities. In such cases the team engages
with the complainant to agree a timescale within which
the issues will be investigated and a response provided.

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 35 Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18