Improving the complaints experience

1
Improving the complaints experience

• 17 June 2009
• Council Liaison Officer Conference
• Jim Martin, Ombudsman

2
What you told us about the SPSO

• Key results of BUJ survey
• Service broadly satisfied lowest scores on
  timeliness and consistency
• Awareness like the website, lower levels of
  awareness of training some publications
• New leaflet The Ombudsman and Your Organisation

3
What complainants told us about the SPSO

• satisfaction with information SPSO provides
  generally high (73)
• courtesy and helpfulness high (80 and 65)
• reliability good (60)
• empathy and impartiality relatively low (48 and
  52)
• thoroughness of examining complaint low (42),
  though an improvement on 2007 survey results
  (when 37 were satisfied) and in line with other
  Ombudsman offices
• ease of contacting SPSO good (upper 60s in all
  means of contact)
• overall, 49 very or just satisfied with SPSO
  service, 37 dissatisfied/very dissatisfied in
  line with other Ombudsman offices
• different levels of overall satisfaction in
  different sectors (57 health, 48 local
  government)

4
The improvement agenda

• SPSO and council complaint handlers all charged
  with
• 1. Dealing with complaints
• a) speedily
• b) well
• 2. Using them to inform improvement
• No recurrence
• Better services

5
Our commitment

• To work as hard as we can to achieve our KPIs
• Your commitment to respond to us quickly
  especially at the draft report stage.
• material, new evidence which has come to light
• any factual inaccuracy
• Complainants will be given a level playing field

6
Timescales in dealing with complaints

• In 2008-09
• 66 received decisions within two weeks
• 84 received decisions within 14 weeks
• 94 received decisions within one year

• In 2007-08
• 49 received decisions within two weeks
• 72 received decisions within 14 weeks
• 88 received decisions within one year

7
Reduction in old cases
8
But our current KPIs make good performance look
like bad
KPI 1 in 2 weeks, decide if we can look at the
case KPI 2 in 14 weeks, consider and determine
KPI 3 in 52 weeks, investigate and
determine Targets KPI 1 95 KPI 2 80 KPI
3 60 2007-08 2008-09 KPI
1 95 KPI 1 99 KPI 2 66
KPI 2 70 KPI 3 31 KPI 3 26
9
New KPIs

• Criteria for our new KPIs are that they
• are simple and easy to explain
• communicate when people can expect to get
  decisions when they come to us
• accurately reflect the different types of work
  that we do
• are realistically achievable, to incentivise us
  to improve performance.

10
How the old and new measures compare
2008-09 (old) 2008-09 (new) KPI 1
99 KPI 1 88 KPI 2 70 KPI 2
69 KPI 3 26 KPI 3 76
11
Government and Parliament reviews

• Legislation RSSB Bill and PSR Bill
• Principles building consensus around a general
  set of complaint handling principles
• Simplified and standardised complaints processes
  agreed with each sector, starting with local
  government and the social care sector
• Signposting service - new contact centre for all
  complaints about public services
• Support for complaint handlers network/website/
  training
• Simplified landscape extensions of
  jurisdiction/ mergers
• Performance measure performance against the
  complaints handling principles

12
Summary of SPSO strategic priorities 2009-10

• Casework improve turnaround times and quality
• Implement Parliament Government reviews -
  legislative change, design authority
• Stakeholder engagement help you understand
  where we are heading and work with you to achieve
  our common goal of improving the complaints
  experience in order to improve public services.