What process is in place at each health board for staff, visitors, and patients to raise concerns about the wellbeing of others receiving care in hospitals?
Concerns about the care and treatment of patients in NHS Wales may be raised directly with the health board through Putting Things Right, the NHS Wales complaints process. Staff, visitors or other patients may raise with the staff involved in the patient’s care, either through the concerns teams or the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) or similar service. All such concerns will be investigated by the health board and the person who raised the concern informed that an investigation is being undertaken. It may not be possible to share the outcome of the investigation with the person who raised the concern due to patient confidentiality. The patient will be informed that an investigation is being undertaken.
There is also an all-Wales ‘Procedure for NHS Staff to Raise Concerns’. The latest version was approved by the Wales Partnership Forum in December 2017 and issued on 2 January 2018. The procedure sets out the commitment by NHS Wales to support staff who raise concerns and how such concerns will be acted upon. More importantly, the all-Wales procedure supports a culture which encourages open discussion about staff concerns by embedding them in routine conversations on service delivery and patient care.