Hospitals inquiry told of ‘breakdown of trust’ between families and staff

A manager who handled complaints raised about conditions and the care of patients at a scandal-hit hospital has acknowledged there was “a complete breakdown of trust” between families and staff.

Jennifer Haynes was complaints manager with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) in 2018 when complaints began coming in from families claiming there were problems at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).

Ms Haynes was giving evidence on Friday to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, which was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections, and is examining the construction of the QEUH campus in Glasgow.

She said she felt staff “tried their best” to respond to complaints and she would often go back to investigators if she felt families were not getting the answers they needed.

Ms Haynes said she was also asked to take on responsibility for overseeing the board’s whistleblowing procedures and keeping up communications with families as time progressed.

Senior counsel to the inquiry Craig Connal KC asked Ms Haynes if she recognised some families seeking answers felt she tried to pressure them into raising formal complaints to stop them asking questions.

“I would never want to force somebody into a process and absolutely not shut them down,” she replied.

“It was absolutely not the case that I or the health board were ever trying to shut down families.

“I’m really, really sorry to hear that was the perception because I would never have wanted to do that.”

Asked about families’ frustrations in getting answers from the health board about what was happening at the hospital, Ms Haynes said she felt she had to follow a process to ensure information was accurate.

“I wasn’t a subject matter expert on any of the issues that were being raised, whether it be water, ventilation [or] clinical care,” she said.

“I had to go to whoever was the expert in that area, get the information from them and put it through some sort of process to make sure that anything I was saying to families was factually accurate.

“I didn’t feel I could do so without putting some sort of rigour around that.”

Mr Connal put it to Ms Haynes her response sounded as if she had tried to force people to raise formal complaints.

She replied: “I don’t think so because most correspondence with families didn’t go through the complaints handling procedure and they weren’t recorded as complaints.”

Asked how she saw her job at NHSGGC, Ms Haynes answered: “I saw my role as advocating for the families as well as being an employee for NHSGGC.

“I’m just a human being and I had so much empathy for these families and what they were going through.”

Ms Haynes went on to accept criticism from families that communications could have been improved.

“When we were writing letters to families I tried really hard to make sure that any information that was in there was clear [and] concise but also empathetic and compassionate,” she said.

“It would be arrogant of me to assume it was perfect all the time.

“They [the families] have criticised and that’s their perception and that’s how they feel.

“I’m deeply, deeply sorry that was the perception because it certainly was not the intent.

“I’m just a person and what these families were going through was awful.

“There was absolute basis for these concerns – there were issues with that hospital.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how worrying that was for the families.

“I’m sure things could have been done better.

“There was just a complete breakdown of trust and that was really difficult to try and regain.”

The inquiry, taking place before Lord Brodie in Edinburgh, continues.