... Narratives suggest rising levels of complaints, legalisation and blame within the National Health Service (NHS). Three key themes emerge. First, doctors feel “guilty until proven innocent” within increasingly legalised regulatory systems and are consequently practising more defensively. Second, regulation...

...Silvia Sbaraini; John Carpenter Reports on a survey of 222 mental health service users in two health service trusts, which provides evidence to support and elaborate Wood’s analysis of barriers to effective complaints procedures. Identifies key confounding factors such as: lack of awareness...

...’ complaints. The role of complaint data as a management tool, and particularly as applied to quality improvement, has received little attention in the literature. As a quality control tool, complaints are investigated on the individual, unit and organizational levels. Repeated complaints about the same units...

...Daphne Wood Complaint procedures are meant to provide an effective safeguard for users of services, but they do not always work well. Applies an analysis of three views of power to complaint procedures in mental health services. Identifies three factors which might affect the effectiveness...