Hostility, defensiveness and denial, millions suffer in silence due to public sector complaints system Options

[Simon Kirby]

Not my words, I took the title of the thread from the news article in the Telegraph.

Britain will face another scandal like Mid Staffs, in which hundreds of patients died needlessly, unless there is a cultural “revolution”, the Public Administration select committee says in a report released on Monday.

MPs say public bodies are increasingly resorting to using “euphemistic” terms such as review, appeal and feedback to describe complaints, a practice that should be banned. They urge David Cameron to create a new minister for complaints to champion those with grievances and overhaul the way that the public sector is run.

Bernard Jenkin, the committee chairman, says: “There needs to be a revolution in the way public services are run, and how the public perceives government.

“As things are, most people believe there is no point in complaining.

It's an article focussed on the Mid-Staffs snafu, but the Telegraph takes a broad swipe at British public-sector administration in general - and I couldn't be more emphatic in my agreement!

“Unless and until we have a culture of leadership in public services that listens to, values and responds to complaints there will always be the potential for tragedies like Mid-Staffs. Opportunities to improve services and public confidence will be missed again and again.”

So how do you change a culture? Does the voting public actually want accountable honest and open public administration?

[Andy Capp]

So how do you change a culture? Does the voting public actually want accountable honest and open public administration?

Not in so far people are prepared to put themselves out to achieve it, or until it touches them, any way.

[Simon Kirby]

Here's the report of the Public Administration Select Committee.

[Simon Kirby]

Not in so far people are prepared to put themselves out to achieve it, or until it touches them, any way.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Socialist.

"Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Trade Unionist.

"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.

"Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me."

- Martin Niemöller

[Simon Kirby]

If you haven't found it yet, allow me to paste the first paragraphs from the report's introduction, because they're insightful:

1. If a member of the public wishes to complain about a public service, he or she has the right to have their complaint respected, for their concerns to be addressed, and for any wrongdoing to be put right with fair redress and without undue delay. Those delivering the service should ensure that lessons are learnt from complaints to identify what needs to be improved. Our inquiry examined the extent to which this was an accurate representation of complaints handling in public services.

2. Members of Parliament are often the last resort for constituents who have a complaint about a public service, or other issue. We are frequently confronted by people in deep distress, suffering intense pain or loss, and who may be at the end of their tether. Many who complain do so for the most altruistic reasons; not to punish, or to gain something for themselves, but to try to ensure that the same experience they have suffered should not be inflicted on others. They want the system, and the people within it and who lead it, to learn and to benefit from their experience.

3. So often, as MPs, we find that complaints handling is more about understanding and empathy than process and outcome, and public services often fail to recognise this. All too frequently, complaints are greeted by a management who are defensive, even legalistic, and who see complaints as a hostile criticism, rather than as an opportunity to learn from failure. Even if a complaint is not upheld, there is always the opportunity to learn about why the complainant has complained, and a need to understand the motives and feelings of the complainant. To embrace this is both a challenge and an opportunity for every organisation that serves the public, but particularly in public services.

[motormad]

The truth is that "they" (whoever they may refer to, usually Government agencies) do not care.

[Mr Brown]

So this report comes from the very same people who have made never giving a straight answer an art form. It looks as if this report is a deflection itself, that is if we make enough about the woes of the NHS and the punters will forget the Maria Miller style scandals and won't vote UKIP.

[Exhausted]

I wonder how much of the defensive attitude of officials, either elected or permanent staff, is due to the way the compensation business has flourished in the UK, almost reaching the stupid compensation figures of the USA. Since solicitors were given the right to advertise their services, the number of compensation adverts, almost as many as payday loan adverts, appear on my screen several times every night.

Spokespersons are unable to say "Sorry, we screwed up there" as they may be leaving themselves wide open to the legal vultures grabbing their exorbitant fees chasing the mistakes. The populace now seem to have an inbuilt need to see how much compensation they can get, sometimes for their own stupidity, when they have an accident such as slipping on a wet floor in a supermarket or perhaps because a health worker made a mistake,

The people in authority are also scared of the political correctness hammer falling, second only to compensation lawsuits.

We are our own worst enemies perhaps.

[Andy Capp]

Quite agree.

[On the edge]

Seconded!

[Cognosco]

I wonder how much of the defensive attitude of officials, either elected or permanent staff, is due to the way the compensation business has flourished in the UK, almost reaching the stupid compensation figures of the USA. Since solicitors were given the right to advertise their services, the number of compensation adverts, almost as many as payday loan adverts, appear on my screen several times every night.

Spokespersons are unable to say "Sorry, we screwed up there" as they may be leaving themselves wide open to the legal vultures grabbing their exorbitant fees chasing the mistakes. The populace now seem to have an inbuilt need to see how much compensation they can get, sometimes for their own stupidity, when they have an accident such as slipping on a wet floor in a supermarket or perhaps because a health worker made a mistake,

The people in authority are also scared of the political correctness hammer falling, second only to compensation lawsuits.

We are our own worst enemies perhaps.

Yes agree! But when you see the bankers, politicians, etc. all jumping on the gravy train why stop the ordinary pleb from trying to milk the system..........oh forgot the moralistic rules only apply to plebs!

[Exhausted]

Yes agree! But when you see the bankers, politicians, etc. all jumping on the gravy train why stop the ordinary pleb from trying to milk the system..........oh forgot the moralistic rules only apply to plebs!

Possibly, but it's a different train really.

[Simon Kirby]

I wonder how much of the defensive attitude of officials, either elected or permanent staff, is due to the way the compensation business has flourished in the UK, almost reaching the stupid compensation figures of the USA. Since solicitors were given the right to advertise their services, the number of compensation adverts, almost as many as payday loan adverts, appear on my screen several times every night.

Spokespersons are unable to say "Sorry, we screwed up there" as they may be leaving themselves wide open to the legal vultures grabbing their exorbitant fees chasing the mistakes. The populace now seem to have an inbuilt need to see how much compensation they can get, sometimes for their own stupidity, when they have an accident such as slipping on a wet floor in a supermarket or perhaps because a health worker made a mistake,

The people in authority are also scared of the political correctness hammer falling, second only to compensation lawsuits.

We are our own worst enemies perhaps.

The report suggests that the criticism-aversion isn't limited to the NHS but is public-sector wide.

I think the issue is that while commercial businesses with a profit drive have understood that embracing complaints and resolving them justly, honestly, and swiftly is in their own best commercial interests, the public sector has no profit drive and is motivated pretty much entirely by the vanity and ambition of its managers who see no benefit in acknowledging fault when they can simply to declare themselves right and the complainants vexations. There was a time when the man on the Clapham omnibus was deferential enough not to complain about the public sector, and the culture in the public sector hasn't noticed that anything has changed, but it has. Commercial operations expect complaints and deal with them well, and the modern consumer expects the same level of service from its public sector service providers, and faced with empowered and assertive service users intent on holding their providers to account the public sector does the only thing it understands and retreats into its bunker.

The report is clear that the majority of complainants are not seeking gain and are motivated by the need to put right an injustice to serve the common good.

[user23]

The report suggests that the criticism-aversion isn't limited to the NHS but is public-sector wide.

I think the issue is that while commercial businesses with a profit drive have understood that embracing complaints and resolving them justly, honestly, and swiftly is in their own best commercial interests, the public sector has no profit drive and is motivated pretty much entirely by the vanity and ambition of its managers who see no benefit in acknowledging fault when they can simply to declare themselves right and the complainants vexations.

I can't say that any of the teachers, care assistants or youth workers I know are "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition", more a desire to serve the common good.

[Simon Kirby]

I can't say that any of the teachers, care assistants or youth workers I know are "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition", more a desire to serve the common good.

I'm sure you're right User, the Select Committee are sure to have got it completely wrong. You should write and complain.

[newres]

I can't say that any of the teachers, care assistants or youth workers I know are "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition", more a desire to serve the common good.

However lots of social workers, planners and administrators are.

[user23]

I'm sure you're right User, the Select Committee are sure to have got it completely wrong. You should write and complain.

With that statement you're implying, "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition" is a direct quote from the Select Committee report.

Is that the case?

[Simon Kirby]

However lots of social workers, planners and administrators are.

Don't forget the telephone sanitizers...

[Simon Kirby]

With that statement you're implying, "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition" is a direct quote from the Select Committee report.

Is that the case?

I suggest that with the statement "I think the issue is..." that I was saying unambiguously that what followed was my personal interpretation of the report and not a quote. You'll also see that I said the "public sector has no profit drive and is motivated pretty much entirely by the vanity and ambition of its managers" - which of course if a ridiculous piece of hyperbole, but nonetheless was directed at the public sector managers rather than the professionals that you listed who work in the public sector who, as you imply, are often motivated by a strong drive to do what they believe in.

Buy like I say, what's your answer? Why do you suppose that the public-sector respond to criticism with hostility, defensiveness and denial?

[On the edge]

I can't say that any of the teachers, care assistants or youth workers I know are "motivated pretty much entirely by vanity and ambition", more a desire to serve the common good.

I'd be very careful with such sweeping statements if I were you.