Ask Listen Do

Making feedback, concerns and complaints about education, health and social care easier for children, young people and adults with a learning disability, autism or both, their families and carers.

Ask Listen Do supports organisations to learn from and improve the experiences of people with a learning disability, autism or both, their families and carers when giving feedback, raising a concern or making a complaint. It also makes it easier for people, families and paid carers to give feedback, raise concerns and complain.

NHS England is leading this project with partners across health, social care and education.

We have worked with Speakup, a self-advocacy organisation for autistic people and people with a learning disability, to produce some helpful resources. We worked with Bringing Us Together to involve families and paid carers in writing a guide. Information and resources for people with a learning disability, autistic people, families and paid carers

We have also worked with national partners and and other professionals to produce resources for organisations and professionals. Information and resources for organisations and practitioners

All of these resources were launched at the House of Lords in October 2018, in a call to action by the partners with Baroness Sheila Hollins and Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.

We then held a follow-up meeting at the House of Lords in July 2019, with Baroness Sheila Hollins, the partners and pilots, to celebrate the work that had been achieved since October 2018 and to set out what will be done in future to ensure Ask Listen Do is embedded across education, health and social care.

So far, the following organisations have pledged to be  partners for Ask Listen Do:

  • NHS England
  • Local Government Association
  • Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
  • Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
  • Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
  • Department for Education
  • Department of Health and Social Care
  • Care Quality Commission
  • Ofsted
  • Health Education England
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council

Each partner organisation has a plan for making sure that their organisation knows about the project and supports it. We are also supported by other organisations such as PBS4, the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) and Inclusion East CIC.

In addition to our partner organisations, we are also delighted to be working with a range of organisations who are running pilot projects.

What people told us

Ask Listen Do came from the poor experiences people often report when giving feedback, raising concerns and making complaints. We did a survey which nearly 1,300 people took part in. Some of the main results from this survey were:

  • Nine out of ten people said that they had wanted to raise a concern or make a complaint at some time
  • Two out of three people said they sometimes or never knew how to do this
  • Seven out of ten people said that they did not feel that their complaint(s) had changed the way the organisation supports people as a result.

We then carried out events across England where we asked people for their ideas about what needs to change and advice they could share with others.

Find out more about what people said about feedback, concerns and complaints.

Easy read leaflet

Read the easy read leaflet about the Ask Listen Do project and its aims.

Feedback and complaints about NHS services

NHS England collects feedback about NHS services using the Friends and Families Test. This information is used by service providers and commissioners to understand whether their patients are happy with the service provided, or where improvements are needed.

The service providing your care or treatment is normally the place to start if you have any feedback, a concern or a complaint about the service you have received. For example, in a hospital this is usually the Patient Liaison Service (PALS). You can also contact the organisation that commissions (pays for) the service or care you received. For example, general hospital care is usually commissioned by your local clinical commissioning group (CCG).

NHS England investigates complaints about the services it commissions. This includes primary care services such as GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacy services. It also includes specialised commissioning for complex or rare health conditions, and secure mental health care.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman makes final decisions on NHS complaints that have not been resolved. This is a free service which does not take sides. PHSO have included Ask Listen Do in their quality strategy.

Find out more about giving feedback or complaining about an NHS service

Related information and resources