Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, in response to Ann Clwyd’s report on patient complaints in the NHS, said:
“We welcome this report and pay tribute to Ann Clwyd for her courageous work on these important issues. There is room for considerable improvement in the way the NHS handles patient complaints and we will support the sensible suggestions she makes.
"The NHS has an unfortunate tendency to push complainants away and pull down the shutters. That has to change. Most people who bring a complaint do so purely because they don’t want others to go through the same experience. NHS organisations should use complaints positively as part the drive to improve care.
"The Government now needs to back up this report by implementing in full the recommendation from the Francis Inquiry on a new duty of candour on individual NHS staff. Jeremy Hunt’s watered-down version will not bring the change that’s needed. That’s why Labour will force this issue to the vote when the Care Bill reaches the Commons next month.
"If the Secretary of State’s promises of transparency are to mean anything, it is essential that he extends freedom of information obligations to all providers of services, including private providers. Patients will only be able to have confidence in the complaints system if all providers are working to same standards of openness and transparency.”