Difficult situations

Defusing hostility

Few people are comfortable about complaining. It takes courage to do so, and this should be respected. Some people can only bring themselves to complain when they’re angry, and these complaints are usually directed verbally to frontline staff. It is easy, in such situations, for the interaction to get out of control, generating bad feeling on both sides. It is therefore important that frontline staff are equipped with techniques for defusing potentially hostile interactions (see "First contact" section below; see also Appendix 5 and Appendix 6 for a guide to handling tense situations).

If a complainant is proving difficult to communicate with, or it seems that your relationship with the complainant has broken down, you should consider using an independent conciliation service to facilitate communication. Your PCT may be able to help you access a conciliator.

Persistent and/or unreasonable complainants

Staff who resolve concerns and complaints need to have a range of core competencies and skills and a problem-solving approach

Although you can expect to resolve most complaints satisfactorily, you should be prepared for dealing with the occasional persistent complainant who refuses to accept the outcome of your investigations, or unreasonable behaviour on the part of a complainant. You will need to have a policy in place for this, and you can download a model policy and toolkit from the Making Experiences Count website (see Resources section).

“Staff who resolve concerns and complaints need to have a range of core competencies and skills and a problem-solving approach. On first contact they should aim to set the scene for resolution by helping to reduce the tension in situations, clarifying issues of concern, negotiating an action plan for resolution and ensuring that the service user is central to the process.”

(Department of Health, Customer Care in the NHS: The PALS Approach)

First contact

“Staff who resolve concerns and complaints need to have a range of core competencies and skills and a problem-solving approach. On first contact they should aim to set the scene for resolution by helping to reduce the tension in situations, clarifying issues of concern, negotiating an action plan for resolution and ensuring that the service user is central to the process.”

(Department of Health, Customer Care in the NHS: The PALS Approach)