30 July 2021
Five years after the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS) first decided upon CEDR (the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) as the organisation best suited to support its operational services, the two organisations have decided that joining forces is the best way to take forward their work to ensure that all private sector patients have access to high quality complaints systems.
Since early 2016 CEDR has hosted ISCAS and supported the operation of its independent adjudication service. Both organisations recognise that coming together has helped maintain and improve the experience that subscribers and patients receive.
CEDR, which provides innovative consumer and public body adjudication in many other sectors, including banking, house building, utilities and travel, has found that operating the ISCAS complaint scheme, like its other work, delivers significant public benefit in an important social context.
ISCAS is known for its high-quality Code of Practice for the handling of patient complaints about independent healthcare providers. This provides a blueprint for good complaints handling in the sector, and specifies a three-stage process:
• Stage 1 – Local Resolution: complaint addressed directly by the clinic or hospital where care was provided
• Stage 2 – Complaint Review: internal review of complaint by someone who was not directly involved at stage 1 (e.g. regional/head office)
• Stage 3 – ISCAS Independent Adjudication
ISCAS Director, Sally Taber said: “The Board of ISCAS has and will continue to promote high standards of patient complaint handling in the independent healthcare sector, which is important for patients and also for the reputation of subscribing healthcare providers. The formalisation of our attachment to CEDR supports this aim and our sustained provision of an efficient and patient-responsive service. We welcome this new direct relationship with CEDR along with the continued invaluable support of our expert panel of adjudicators.”
James South, Managing Director of CEDR commented “This next step in our collaboration with ISCAS is testament to the great relationship we have with ISCAS’s directors and the stewardship provided by CEDR’s management of the ISCAS operations. We are enthusiastic about the positive future that awaits ISCAS in the role it will play for the independent healthcare sector.”
