1

What people think about complaining

Omnibus Survey Results - 11 September 2012

2

wanted

to complain

The expectations, experience and barriers of those who wanted to complain give us an insight on the public complaint system in the UK

Group 2:

Those who did not need to complain

Complained formally

Did not complainfurther

Compl.further

1998 participants100%

1612 (81%)

Did NOT complain formally

138(39%)

214(61%)

54(25%)

153(72%)

358 (18%)

Group 1

3

Customers that wanted to complain – those who did it formally and those who didn’t

How do expectations differ between the

two groups?

Are there any demographic

differences between those who

complained formally and those who didn’t?

Are formally made complaints very

different from those not made formally ?

1.

2.

3.

4

1. Are there any demographic differences between those who complained formally and those who didn’t?

• Those who complain formally tend to be:

– Aged above 45

– Females

– White

• Those who did NOT complain formally tend to be:

– Ages 16-24

– BME

– Males

– Unemployed

5

2a. Examples of formally made complaints

• The main organisations they complained about was the local council and the NHS

– Other organisations included: HMRC, Public transport, DWP/ JobCentre Plus

About the treatment my father was receiving

from nurses

About the treatment my father was receiving

from nurses

The way <he> was left in aisle when he was an emergency

case

The way <he> was left in aisle when he was an emergency

case

They got my marital status wrong and still haven't corrected

it.

They got my marital status wrong and still haven't corrected

it.

My mum was assaulted by one of the staff in a care home. She's 86 years old.

It wasn't dealt with properly.

My mum was assaulted by one of the staff in a care home. She's 86 years old.

It wasn't dealt with properly.

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2b. Examples of complaints that were NOT made formally

Lack of acknowledgement that my mother was dyingLack of acknowledgement that my mother was dying

Misdiagnosed a burst appendix as gastroenteritis and as a result I

almost died of Peritonitis and had to have major surgery when it

should have been a simple minor surgery I still suffer pain from this

surgery months later

Misdiagnosed a burst appendix as gastroenteritis and as a result I

almost died of Peritonitis and had to have major surgery when it

should have been a simple minor surgery I still suffer pain from this

surgery months later

Miscalculated tax creditsMiscalculated tax credits

Poor care of elderly in nursing home

Poor care of elderly in nursing home

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3. How do expectations differ between those who complained formally and those who didn’t?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Complicated process

Difficult to find out who to complaint to

Inefficient

Not taken seriously

Not investigated thoroughly Customers have to chase

Nothing would change

Considered unfairly

You would not get what you asked for

Did complain (214) Wanted to but did NOT complain (138)

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Perceived barriers to complaining

• Those who didn’t complain are likely to expect:

– the complaint process is complicated and inefficient

– it is difficult to find out to who to complain to

– you would not get what you want

• Additional barriers to complaining:

– Will not being taken seriously – the younger age group

– It will be too time consuming - BME

– They do not know where to complain or how to do it – disabled and

unemployed

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Does the experience of those making a complaint reflect the perceived barriers of those who did not?

53%

46%

33%

29%

32%

32%

21%

6%

8%

11%

13%

8%

20%

13%

39%

46%

54%

57%

58%

45%

64%

They listened to what I had to say

My complaint was taken seriously

The complaints process was efficient

I was kept up to date

I got what I wanted from the

complaint

The decision regarding my complaint

was fair

I know/ I expect that my complaint

has or will change things

Agree Neither Disagree

Efficiency

Communication

Final outcome

Empathy

Attitudinal

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Finding the organisation and making a complaint: Actual experience vs general expectation

• Those who made a formal complaint felt generally positive about finding out how to complain, and making the complaint to the organisation

(How did they found out who to complain to?

– Mainly by asking the organisation - particularly those in D/E social class and BME or

– searching on line - the younger group (16-24) and the A/B social class)

69%

65%

5%

6%

26%

28%

It was easy to make mycomplaint to the organisation

It was easy to find out who tocomplain to

Agree Neither Disagree

11

What is stopping people trying to complain? Potential additional barriers…

Are all organisations signposting

customers on how to complain?

o Initial results from the hard to reach research suggest that this is not happening consistently

o Our customer satisfaction survey indicate that 45% of the enquirers that came to us said they were NOT informed about PHSO by the organisation, this is particularly true for the parliamentary organisations (56% not informed)

If the organisation does not help, is the information on-line easily accessible?

o Some of the most vulnerable groups are less likely to access on-line information (i.e. those with disability; D/E social group; and those in the older age group)

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Does dissatisfaction with the way the initial complaint was handled lead to taking the complaint further?

• Only a third of those who made a formal complaint felt satisfied

– Even less amongst BME - 14% satisfied

• Despite the low satisfaction in the handling of their complaint, only a quarter of those who complained decided to take their complaint further, and an additional one in three would have liked to but didn’t – why not?

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Those who did not take their complaint further share similar reasoning with those who did not complain in the first instance• Those who did not take their complaint further were mainly concerned

with:

– not being taken seriously and

– the complaint process being too time consuming19%

17%

16%

14%

6%

4%

3%

6%

4%

The matter/problem was sorted out

I didn’t think it would be taken seriously

It would be too time consuming

I thought the complaints process was

likely to be more hassle than it was worth

Is still going on/awating results

I didn’t think it was a serious enough

problem

I didn’t know how to complain further

No point would not get anywhere

Worried that it would negatively affect

the service I received in future

Base: All who did not take the complaint further 153

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What does this research means in relation to our Vision, Mission and Strategy?

• Are wrongs righted for all, including the most vulnerable?

– 4 in 10 would not complain formally when unhappy about a public service

– The most vulnerable and disadvantaged are less likely to make a formal complaint or to know how or where to complain

• Do people feel powerful enough to influence making the service better?

– There is a general lack of confidence amongst consumers in complaint resolution, both in terms of not fulfilling their own individual benefit (getting what they are asking) and a wider benefit (preventing the mistake happening again)

– When consumers feel that they do not have a voice and their complaint would not be taken seriously they tend not to complain

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What does this research mean in relation to our Vision, Mission and strategy paper?• What the guardian of the complaint system should look like?

– Information on how to complain should be ready available and easy to access:

– Consumers currently mainly rely on the organisation to signpost them on how to complain,

but this is not happening consistently

– Alternatively, they search for information on-line but this channel is less likely to be used

by the most vulnerable (those with disability; D/E and the older age groups)

– Simplify the complaint process to help people to complain formally

– Negative expectations and experience of the efficiency of and time involved in the

complaint process, make the act of complaining not worthwhile for many

• Helping people to come to us when they need to

– Consumers dissatisfied with the resolution of their complaint might not take their complaint further because of lack of confidence and concerns about the amount time that they need to invest

– We asked those who said it was difficult to find us to take their complaint further and they said it was difficult because PHSO is poorly advertised and they did not know it existed (Customer Satisfaction Survey)

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What does this research means in relation to our Vision, Mission and strategy paper?

• Use lessons learned from complaints to influence service improvements

– Negative expectations of the wider benefit of the complaint outcome does not encourage people to complain formally

– Early findings from the ‘hard to reach’ research suggest that well known public service failures (e.g. treatment of the elderly by the NHS service) not being followed by service improvements acts as a further barrier to complaining as a bad service can become ‘a norm’