PALS complaints at Jersey General Hospital from 2020-2025 to date

​​​Request 722083637

Subject: FOI Request – PALS Complaints at Jersey General Hospital

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, I would like to request the following information regarding complaints received by the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at Jersey General Hospital:

1. The total number of complaints received through PALS, by year, for the past five years (2020–2025 to date).

2. A breakdown of complaints by type or category (e.g., clinical care, communication, staff attitude, waiting times, discharge, etc.).

3. The outcomes of those complaints – for example:

Resolved at PALS level

Escalated to a formal complaint

Referred to an independent review or ombudsman

4. The number of complaints that led to further investigation or resulted in changes to hospital procedures, policies, or staff training.

5. The average time taken to resolve PALS complaints each year.

6. If available, a brief summary of any recurring issues or themes identified in PALS complaints over the requested period.

Many thanks 

Response

As detailed in the Health and Care Jersey Quality Account 2024, the Patient Experience Team comprises of two services; the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), and the Health Feedback team. Each teams’ function is outlined, as follows:

• PALS give confidential advice, support and information on health-related services or care and are a point of contact for patients, their families and / or carers. This service also manages feedback from patients, relatives, and carers.

• The Health Feedback team handle complaints, compliments and concerns.

Service-specific information for the Patient Experience Team / PALS, and organisation-wide data for complaints received by Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) are provided, as indicated.

1 and 2

Annual data for complaints recorded in the HCJ (formerly HCS (Health and Community Services)) Feedback Management System from 2020 to 2022, including the category breakdown and annual totals, have been provided in a previous Freedom of Information response, published to www.gov.je​ in April 2023:

gov.je/Government/FreedomOfInformation/pages/foi.aspx?ReportID=6382​​

As information for the period 2020 to 2022 is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Annual data for complaints received in 2023 and 2024 through the Patient Experience Team are available in the respective years’ Quality Accounts, available at the links below:

HCS Quality Account 2023.pdf  (page 138)

Health and Care Jersey Quality Account 2024.pdf ​  (page 155)

As this information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Data for the number of complaints recorded in the HCJ Feedback Management System annually from 2023 to 2024, and from 01 January 2025 to 31 May 2025, are provided in the attached table, broken down by category recorded.

Freedom of Information response 722083637 - Attachment.pdf​

3

It is not possible to provide data on outcomes prior to 2025. The ability to identify outcomes from the complaints log system has been implemented recently, and data for previous years cannot be reported directly from the system. Undertaking a manual analysis of all complaints’ records in scope would exceed the timescales prescribed in the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014. Therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.  

Data for January to March 2025 (Q1 2025) is provided in the table below. All complaints recorded are formal complaints. None were escalated from PALS. 

Complaints outcomes, Q1 2025

4

Learning from feedback (Complaints, PALS, Care Concerns and Survey’s)  

As part of HCJ Learning from feedback in Quarter 1 2025, including upheld complaints, PALS concerns, care concerns and various patient surveys, key areas for improvement have been identified:

• Healthcare Assistant Skills Training – ‘Care Certificate’  

The Clinical Skills Team in the HCJ Health Education Department launched a new Care Certificate training programme. This focuses on equipping Healthcare Assistants with essential skills for delivering high-quality care. The training content was informed by recurring themes identified in patient complaints, aiming to enhance the overall care experience. The training will be delivered to all current and future Healthcare Assistants to ensure consistent standards of care.

• Nutrition & Hydration Improvements

The HCJ Nutrition and Hydration Working Group conducted a comprehensive catering survey to better understand patient preferences, current offerings, and areas for enhancement. Based on the findings, actionable changes are being implemented, including the introduction of clearly displayed snack and drink menus to ensure inpatients are aware of the options available. Work is underway to make menus dementia-friendly to support inclusivity.    

• Answerphone calls within HCJ Hospital Departments  

Following recent staffing challenges within the Appointments Team, the issue has now been successfully addressed through targeted recruitment, ensuring adequate support for the current workload. Ongoing training is in place to enable cross-cover within the team, enhancing service resilience and continuity. Additionally, the General Manager is actively collaborating with Jersey Telecoms and the HCJ Digital Team to explore and implement improvements to the current systems, aiming to streamline operations and enhance service delivery.

5

PALS aim to resolve all cases within 5 working days. 

There is no functionality which enables the average number of days taken to resolve cases to be reported from records held, and identifying this information would require manual review of all records in scope, which would exceed the timescales prescribed in the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014. Therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

6

In Q1 2025, HCJ received a total of 370 PALS enquires and concerns. The primary reason for patient and service user contact was related to appointments, accounting for over 35% of enquiries. This is consistent with Q4 2024, and learning has been initiated in relation to enhancing access to appointments for service users.

Articles applied

​Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.​​​​​