Jeremy Hunt Contacted By Concerned MPs

Three MPs have contacted Jeremy Hunt to express their concerns over the way complaints are handled at the Peterborough City Hospital.

Stuart Jackson, MP for Peterborough, Shailesh Vara, North West Cambridgeshire MP, and Steve Barclay, MP for North East Cambridgeshire have written to the Secretary of State for Health to outline their concerns.

According to local media, Mr Jackson told the Mr Hunt that he is “very concerned” about accountability at the hospital and the organisation’s desire to learn from errors.

“The complaints department needs to ensure it sympathetically responds to complaints by patients in a timely fashion and realise it isn’t just a tick box exercise of dismissing rightly held concerns by patients who expect a professional level of care,” he wrote.

Mr Vara and Mr Barclay echoed his concerns and said they fear that the complaints procedure at the hospital is not up to the standard the public expects and that many patients have faced long delays and inaccuracies when contacted by the hospital

Guy Forster, a Partner and expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Cambridge office, said:

Expert Opinion

The concerns raised by these MPs are extremely concerning and it is absolutely vital that there is a thorough review of how the current complaints procedure is operating to establish any failings and what can be done to resolve them. <br/> <br/>“These complaints offer a golden opportunity for a healthcare provider to learn from its mistakes and resolve any on-going issues with patient care. Patient care should always be the top priority and it is vital complaints are listened to, taken seriously and dealt with quickly, which will lead to improved care for all patients and a better health service. <br/> <br/>“Often all patients really want is an apology and to ensure that others do not have to experience the same problems; sadly, in our work across the country we continue to see a number of cases where complaints are simply not dealt with appropriately. Guy Forster - Partner