Empowering People to Complain to Their GP Practice: A Toolkit for Local Healthwatch

In a recent chat, I met with Kinsi Clarke and Shailah Squire from Healthwatch Nottingham & Nottinghamshire to talk about a new toolkit they've put together to help people complain to their GP practice. The toolkit is all about giving people the info and tools they need to understand their rights and take action when they're not happy with their GP.

The toolkit came about because both Healthwatch England and HWNN team had done extensive work on improving complaints systems; Improving NHS Complaints handling,  and wanted to create something that would make it easier for people to speak up and get their concerns addressed with the Practice Manager. It has info on patients' rights, NHS guidelines, and templates for making complaints. It's designed to give people the confidence and know-how to navigate the complaints process.

In my work with Healthwatch across the country, I see a lot of projects on GP access, and I thought this was a great approach to the topic, that empowers people to be part of improving complaint systems by giving them the information and tools they need.

Kinsi & Shailah mentioned that their team is small and mostly part-time, covering a large area, the toolkit helps them support more people with limited resources. Noting that about 25% of the population isn't comfortable with digital tools, the toolkit will be printed out and shared as they do their regular face to face engagement around the county. They are tracking how many are downloaded or shared so they can report on its uptake. They are also looking at capturing peoples contact details so they can get further feedback on how well the toolkit worked and capture impact.

I thought this was a great approach to addressing the challenges people have accessing their GP, and thanks to Kinsi and Shailah for taking the time to talk to me.