Review of the NHS Complaints Procedure: Health Inequalities Impact Assessment

2. Details of the process:

A Health Inequalities Impact Assessment ( HIIA) workshop was held at the Thistle Centre in Edinburgh on the 25 August 2016, facilitated by NHS Health Scotland. This was a full day workshop involving NHS Equalities Leads from territorial and special Boards, a Healthcare Improvement Scotland Public Partner, and representatives from Alzheimer Scotland, Youth Link Scotland, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsmen, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group and the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance. The Scottish Council on Deafness contributed to the process by email.

The workshop considered a wide range of evidence, including national complaints statistics, research findings and good practice guidelines. Specialist knowledge and experience brought by participants included:

• Direct experience of working with people with various protected characteristics in acute care settings.
• Clinical experience of providing mental health services, including in the forensic sector.
• Experience and expertise in working with and supporting older people, including those with dementia and their families and carers.
• Working with and advocating for young people, families and carers, including those who are living in poverty.
• Experience of supporting people with disabilities or who are living with long-term health conditions to be in the driving seat of their care.
• Experience of working with people from different faith backgrounds.
• Expertise in overcoming barriers to communication, including those experienced by people with a learning disability, sensory impairment, or who are not English speakers.
• Expertise in complaints handling.
• Expertise in independent advocacy.
• Legal expertise.

The full HIIA scoping report is available on request.