The ISCAS Annual Report for 2018/19 was launched on 3rd September 2019. Baroness Fiona Hodgson CBE, Independent Chair of the ISCAS Governance Advisory Board introduces the Annual Report and Sally Taber, ISCAS Director outlined the busy year providing a service for private patients who are prevented by law to access the Parliamentary and Health Service … Continue reading ISCAS Annual Report Launch

The Patients Association kicked off the annual training event focusing on continual improvement in complaint management by explaining how they support private patients with a range of enquiries and signpost them to ISCAS. The emotional impact on patients on raising a complaint was discussed and about the need for empathy. This theme, which coincided with … Continue reading ISCAS/CEDR host 2019 Training Event

ISCAS is featured in this week’s Patients Association Weekly News supporting the work that the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) is doing to to ensure greater transparency about private healthcare fees. The PHIN guide includes a video and an infographic provides information on consultant fees. ISCAS includes a reminder in PA Weekly News about the … Continue reading PA Weekly News – ISCAS supports PHIN on transparent fees

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (IMMDSR) has recently published evidence submitted to the Review, following its oral hearings. ISCAS provided written evidence to emphasise the important role played by independent adjudication in affording private patients an escalation pathway for unresolved complaints about subscribing organisations. Our evidence included an overview of what is … Continue reading ISCAS submits written evidence to IMMDS Review

As part of our Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), ISCAS has just completed a pilot to improve the CQC inspection team’s focus on the outcomes from ISCAS independent adjudications. ISCAS has shared redacted independent adjudication reports with CQC for a number of years, however there were concerns that the length of … Continue reading ISCAS signs new Agreement with CQC

ISCAS is featured in this week’s Patients Association Weekly News to raise awareness about the fact that the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO), the independent body that investigates complaints about government departments and the NHS in England, is not accessible to private patients. This exclusion to PHSO services extends to private healthcare delivered in the NHS, … Continue reading PA Weekly News – NHS PPU patients no access to PHSO

ISCAS is pleased to announce that it is entering a second term of the hosting agreement it has with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). ISCAS is an independent body and separate from any trade body representing private healthcare. This independence from the trade body ensures that ISCAS can put patients at the centre of the … Continue reading ISCAS signs new hosting agreement with CEDR

ISCAS is featured in this week’s Patients Association Weekly News to raise awareness about the way ISCAS and the Patients Association are working together to ensure that patients treated privately have access to an effective independent review stage to complaints. The Patients Association continues to receive calls to their helpline from private patients who struggle with … Continue reading PA Weekly News – Patient Association signposts to ISCAS

The ISCAS Governance Advisory Group held the last meeting for 2018/19 today. The meeting was well attended by an extensive range of providers including, representatives from the large corporate organisations, standalone hospitals, mental health providers, cosmetic surgery organisations and single specialty providers. The participants shared good practice and provided feedback on how they continue to … Continue reading ISCAS Governance Advisory Group Meeting

As 2019 begins ISCAS has been reviewing the report from the Joint Committee on Health Service Safety Investigations Bill (HSSIB) and the Government response to the report, having submitted written evidence on the draft bill in 2018. Our written response on the draft HSSIB included concerns about the inclusion of accreditation. ISCAS is pleased to note that … Continue reading ISCAS agrees that HSSIB should include all healthcare