PROTESTING PATIENTS - A STUDY OF COMPLAINTS SUBMITTED TO A FAMILY HEALTH-SERVICE AUTHORITY

The issue of complaints is a topical one. It is of interest to the Government who espouses a consumerist philosophy and to health care consumer groups who are keen to ensure that effective mechanisms for the redress of grievances are in place. The complaints machinery is currently being reviewed and debated by interested parties and the main suggestions for change are set out in this paper. It is suggested that the factors which impede reform are professional self regulation, which . limits lay involvement in the assessment of matters complained about, and the new managerialism which, through its emphasis on consumerism, has the paradoxical effect of reinforcing the control of managers. If complaints procedures are to be reformed it is paramount that we have an insight into what people complain about. To this end this paper presents an analysis of the letters of complaint submitted to one Family Health Service Authority in the early 1990s.