Editorial note: If you have not yet read our mission statement above, please do so in order that you can put our blogs in context. 

 10 September 2012

WHEN THE BAD NEWS IS GOOD

A lot of people, it seems, get the wrong end of the stick. They think something’s bad when in fact it’s good.

Take the recent upsurge in complaints about the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

In the year 2011/2012 there were 162,100 complaints – an increase of 8.3 per cent over the previous year – according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Most people might think that this was not great news for the NHS.

But they would be wrong.

NHS Confederation deputy chief executive David Stout can put them right.

In a report printed the Guardian newspaper on 30 August 2012, he pointed out the correct way to interpret the increase in the number of complaints.

“An increase in the number of complaints doesn’t necessarily mean that patients are less satisfied with their care,” he said. “A rise in complaints data can actually mean that patients feel more engaged with their local NHS and want to work with it to improve. It’s also a sign that patients are confident their concerns will be listened to and acted upon.”

Give this man a medal!

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 You might perhaps care to view some of our earlier posts.  For instance:

 1. Why? or How? That is the question(3 Jan 2012)

2. Partitocracy v. Democracy (20 July 2012)

3. The shoddiest possible goods at the highest possible prices(2 Feb 2012)

4. Capitalism in practice  (4 July 2012)

5.Ladder  (21 June 2012)

 6. A tale of two cities (1)  (6 June 2012)

 7. A tale of two cities (2)  (7 June 2012)

 8. Where’s the beef? Ontology and tinned meat(31 Jan 2012)

Every so often we shall change this sample of previously published posts.

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