Our method

Our first stage of development was to find out if quality, age appropriate information about the NHS complaints procedure already existed. We consulted with the NHS, including the 14 Scottish geographical boards, the NHS Complaints Personnel Association Scotland and English NHS boards. We also looked for information produced by local authorities in the UK, information providers such as Barnardos and Citizens Advice Scotland, as well as the private health sector.

As a result we found that information is available about complaints for young people but is either not appropriate for use in Scotland or is aimed at young people who are in contact with social care services in their area.

The second stage was to establish whether our target group and stakeholders felt there was a need for the information and, if so, what the content should be. This involved gathering information from key stakeholders including service providers, and a focus group to consult with young people. In September 2007, we held a workshop with the Young People’s Health Advisory Group (YPHAG). YPHAG aims improve health services for children and young people in Scotland and is a joint initiative of NHS Education for Scotland and SCCYP.

Using the feedback from this workshop and our stakeholder consultation, we produced the first draft of the leaflet which had the working title, Have Your Say!’ This suggestion came from young people and reflected the views of many stakeholders who asked us to include information about giving positive feedback as well as information about the complaints procedure.

We consulted with our main stakeholders to receive comments on this first draft and, once revised, we commissioned a design company to produce the second draft. This meant we could arrange a series of focus groups to ask young people what they thought of the content and the way the information was presented.

The information and layout of the leaflet was revised following these focus groups and key stakeholders were asked to comment on several of the changes to this draft.  The leaflet was then double checked to make sure that the language used was as clear as possible before it was independently checked for legal accuracy.

Lastly, on the advice of young people, we produced a poster that youth services could display to promote the leaflet.

Page last edited: 07 October 2009