Purpose
To provide the Board with an update on patient feedback received by the Patient Experience team at Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (HWE ICB) for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
Key points
The Patient Experience team faced a challenging year marked by high demand and staffing pressures. Despite this, leadership changes and a structured Quality Improvement plan drove process improvements, reduced open cases, enhanced compliance, and fostered system-wide learning, laying the foundation for sustained transformation and collaborative improvement.
Key complaint metrics
| Key metric | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total contacts received | 2555 | 2809 | 10% |
| Total formal complaints received | 353 | 621 | 76% |
| Total formal complaints investigated (excluding carried over) | 267 | 280 | 4.8% |
| Acknowledgement within 3-days | unknown | 89.6% | n/a |
| Complaints closed within 6 months | unknown | 90.3% | n/a |
| Total PALS | 1983 | 1997 | 0.7% |
| Total MP PALS | 166 | 177 | 6.6% |
During 2024/25, the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB received 621 formal complaints – a 76% increase from 2023/24. This rise is partly linked to the delegation of primary care complaints from July 2023. Notably, complaints surged from July 2024 onwards, suggesting growing patient concerns. General Practice, the ICB itself, and dental services accounted for 74% of all complaints, with increases of 67%, 118%, and 193% respectively.
A total of 557 (89.6%) complaints were acknowledged within three working days, improving to 98.1% from October 2024 onward. Response times also improved, with 90.3% of complaints closed within six months and an average response time reduced to 66 working days from 88 the previous year.
Of the 455 complaints closed, 73 were upheld or partially upheld, mostly related to Continuing Healthcare (CHC), fundamental care, and General Practice. CHC concerns, particularly in Hertfordshire, were the most common.
There were 1,997 Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) handled, with top themes concerning the ICB, General Practice, and dental services. Member of Parliament (MP) PALS enquiries increased to 177, with key themes including commissioning, CHC, General Practice, and medicines management.
Seven complaints were referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO); one was upheld. A joint action plan was implemented in response, ensuring learning across the system.
Overall, the report highlights rising complaint volumes but improvements in acknowledgement and resolution timeliness, alongside recurring themes around CHC and access to primary care.
Recommendation/action required
The Board is asked to:
- receive the HWE ICB Patient Feedback Annual Report 2024/25 for assurance and approve its publication on the ICB website
- note the improvements following a full review, with a recovery plan underway to address capacity challenges within the complaints function, aiming to strengthen performance, ensure timely responses, and support sustainable service delivery through future-focused actions.