Customer satisfaction surveys
89. The Department's memorandum states that "the
contract requires Medical Services to undertake surveys of claimants
and BA customers..... The present claimant survey obtains claimants'
perceptions of a variety of issues including Medical Services'
appointment systems, the examination process, the courtesy of
staff, travelling and waiting times..... Emerging trends from
surveys indicate that in general claimants are satisfied with
arrangements for making appointments, and with communication with
administrative staff. Some dissatisfaction is expressed over delays
in being examined, the length of the examination, and payment
of expenses, but overall satisfaction scores exceed 88 per cent."[97]
90. However, there is scepticism amongst those who
work with claimants about the apparently high satisfaction rates.
Advice Centres for Avon told us that this figure was misleadingly
high because claimants "are asked for their opinion immediately
after the medical and before they have seen the report. If they
do not know what is in the report how can they tell whether the
doctor has done a fair or an unfair job? Also, there is the rather
ludicrous idea of saying, "Right, we have taken a statement
from you and we have not yet decided whether you are going to
get your benefit or not. Now, tell us, what do you think of us?"
Is that likely to elicit open and honest criticism? We think that
the user views should be sought on reports as well."[98]
91. When Mr Norman Haighton of the Benefits Agency
was asked whether this approach only assessed half the process,
he said, "Yes. I think it depends what it is we are measuring.
On this survey we are measuring those things I have described[99]
and the right time to do it is when the person has just experienced
them. If you want to know about the reception and the conditions
and how the doctor acted then filling in the form straight away
is the best time to get the information. If you want to judge
the quality of the report and the accuracy of the report then
that would have to be done later. I think I would see that as
an additional survey rather than as part of the first one."[100]
92. Asked whether he thought the customer satisfaction
surveys should be carried out after claimants had seen their reports,
the Minister said "I think if you did the customer satisfaction
survey at that point you would undoubtedly get different results,
but you would be measuring something different. I think it is
important to distinguish between the dissatisfaction that arises
because somebody thinks they have been examined by a doctor who
has been rude or has undertaken an unnecessarily invasive examination
or has kept them waiting for a long time....and, on the other
hand, the complaint that arises when somebody challenges the decision
made by the Benefits Agency decision maker....That may or may
not reflect concern about how the BA doctor did his work, but
I think they are two very different things. If you believe that
the administrative system of the Benefits Agency has taken a wrong
decision there is an appeal mechanism and you go through that."[101]
93. We are not confident that the system of customer
surveys accurately captures claimants perceptions of the service,
for two reasons: apprehension on behalf of the claimants that
any negative feedback could adversely affect the decision on their
claim; and the fact that surveys are completed after the examination
takes place, but without the claimant having seen the doctor's
report.
94. Relating to the first reason, we have no reason
to believe that any decision would be affected by comments made
in a survey, and we would be very surprised if this was the case.
We accept that it is probably difficult to allay completely the
suspicion that this might happen, although we think Medical Services
should take every step possible to ensure that claimants know
that this is the case, and that their comments will be anonymised
before they are used.
95. On the second point, we accept that to conduct
surveys after claimants have read reports produced by EMPs is
to measure something different from that which is being measured
now. We do not accept the Minister's argument that to do so is
unnecessary, because any grievances at that stage would, in effect,
constitute grounds for an appeal. It is quite plausible that claimants'
might want to express dissatisfaction about the EMPs' report,
without wanting to appeal the decision. In any case, we believe
it would be useful to have claimant feedback about reports. We
recommend that a proportion of customer surveys are conducted
with claimants after they have seen the EMPs' reports.
Complaints and customer satisfaction:
overall conclusion
96. There is a serious disjunction between the picture
of Medical Services presented to this Committee during its inquiry
by those with experience of it from the claimants' point of view,
and the level of official complaints and surveys of customer satisfaction.
Because of its inadequate complaints system, Medical Services
is failing to capture accurately genuine grievances about its
performance. Changes to the system are required; allied to
those more minor ones we recommend in relation to customer surveys,
an improved system of customer feedback will give Medical Services
indispensable information which they must use to help draw up
the improvements we hope to see in their service.
84 31 per cent of all complaints, ev. p. 108, section
9.6. Back
85
Ev. pp 56-57, paras 3.24-3.26. Back
86
Ev. p. 106, section 9.3. Back
87
Ev. p. 106, section 9.1. Back
88
Q 23. Back
89
Q 23. Back
90
QQ 166 & 168. Back
91
Appendix 15, Section 12. Back
92
Appendix 30, paras 9-11. Back
93
Q 23. Back
94
Q 23. Back
95
Letter to the Chairman dated 3 March, not published. Back
96
Q 532. Back
97
Ev p 56, paras 3.21-3.22. Back
98
Q 182. Back
99
"The survey is about "Did you get good notice? Did
you manage to get here alright? Were you reasonably received?
Was the area clean, warm and comfortable? Did the doctor explain
what it was about?" and so on. It is about the environmental
aspect as much as anything. The latter part of it is about "How
well do you think the doctor handled your case? Was his manner
acceptable". There is a whole list to choose from, "Was
he gentle, kind, brusque, awkward? Tick the appropriate boxes."".
Q 438. Back
100
Q 440. Back
101
Q 533. Back
