A DAMNING report into the handling of local medical complaints has been released by a health watchdog.

Cumbrian patients said they were treated "defensively'', scared to make complaints and put under "additional strain'' due to the area's complex complaints procedures.   

A review by Healthwatch Cumbria and Cumbria Health Scrutiny committee also said support for complainants was "limited'' and in some cases "there is a clear lack of understanding amongst staff of complaints procedures and the value of learning from complaints''.

Handling of complaints was also slower than the recommended target. 

The report now calls for all Cumbrian health and social care providers to adopt a single process for complaints handling.

This process should be accessible to all, have clear and consistent timescale, and should include contact details for the person to whom complaints should be addressed for each organisation.

An investigation was set up after Healthwatch had earlier reported "people often had cause to complain to the NHS about a wide range of, sometimes, very serious, experiences that they had had but were often confused about how to go about submitting complaints''.

The subsequent report found Cumbrian hospitals and social care providers were "inconsistent at handling complaints'' with the most common complaint being the handling of complaints itself. 

Healthwatch found complaints from patients were received in a defensive manner. There was a "lack of information, knowledge and understanding about the complaints processes and this caused additional strain on those who had already had reason to be distressed''.

While most NHS services produce customer-friendly advice on how to make a complaint, literature was not always displayed in public areas or readily provided for customers. 

The report stated that “...during our visits to health and social care providers we saw little evidence of information relating to making complaints''.

Timescales for responding to complainants and bringing about resolutions varied and were 'not completely in line with the statutory requirement for NHS Services (normally) to respond to complaints within three days’. Patients, the report said, could be afraid of making a complaint, especially when they were about to embark on a lengthy treatment plan.

And while senior staff had a 'fairly good understanding of the complaints process' other levels of staff tended to be more confused about the system and how it affected them.''

David Blacklock, chief executive of Healthwatch Cumbria, said following the report many of the health providers had accepted the complaints systems "needed improved'' with some of them already developing action plans. 

For further information about the report go to www.healthwatchcumbria.co.uk