Concilliation Case Studies

There are two conciliation case studies, the first is from a workplace case and the second is a health concilation. The studies are based on real cases, all names and organisations have been changed.

Workplace Conciliation Case Study

Peter is a team supervisor and Shaun is a member of the team he supervises. After an incident at work where Peter felt physically threatened by Shaun, Shaun has been suspended from work. The companies grievance procedures allow parties to request independent conciliation and the two parties have agreed to try this before Shaun returns to work. The conciliators contacted the parties and discussed the conciliation process. Both parties agreed to take part. The conciliators arranged for both parties to be seen separately for an hour before the joint meeting, to be held in the afternoon.

At the individual meeting Shaun objected to the way that Peter told him to do tasks. He felt that Peter was rude and demanding and treated him differently from other members of staff. Shaun started to criticise how Peter dressed and the sort of car he drove and the conciliators needed to point out that the conciliation was about workplace behaviour.

Peter wanted Shaun to be sacked. As the conciliators questioned Peter it emerged that Peter was worried about how Shaun’s behaviour would impact on others at work and that he was concerned for his own safety.

Shaun and Peter were very reluctant to attend the joint meeting. The conciliators assured them that if they felt uncomfortable at any stage they could take a break from the proceedings. Shaun was worried about confidentiality and the conciliators discussed how the the meeting would be confidential to the participants.

Initially Peter and Shaun were only able to talk through the conciliators but they were gradually able to direct their questions and concerns to each other.

The agreement reached between the parties surrounded the issues of the manner and nature of communication between them both. They recognised trigger points and how they could avoid these in the future. They were able to identify acceptable requests by supervisors and appropriate behaviour by staff.

The agreement also included an upward referral to line management on issues they were unable to reach agreement on.

Health Conciliation Case Study

Mrs Chapman had a complaint against her GP surgery about the way she felt they diagnosed her illness. Mrs Chapman had written to the surgery and made a formal complaint. The complaint was not targeted particularly at one practitioner but the surgery as a whole. Mrs Chapman felt she had suffered a “lack of care” from the surgery. She felt that the diagnosis she received from her surgery was incorrect and felt the treatment she received was not satisfactory because of a misdiagnosis. Mrs Chapman felt she had suffered unduly. The surgery responded to Mrs Chapman’s complaint in writing, however Mrs Chapman was dissatisfied with the outcome of her complaint. The General Practitioners were disappointed to receive the complaint and would have liked Mrs Chapman to approach them directly as an alternative to submitting a formal complaint. The Primary Care Trust responsible for the General Practitioners Surgery referred Mrs Chapman and the General Practitioners in question to UNITEs conciliation service.

Dr Jackson was Mrs Chapman’s General Practitioner and Dr Stapleton and Dr Turner were partners in the practice with Dr Jackson. The conciliators contacted all three General Practitioners. The conciliators discussed the conciliation process with all parties involved. All parties agreed to take part. However, it was felt by the General Practitioners that only Dr Jackson and Dr Stapleton should attend the joint meeting stage of the process because if all the doctors went it would appear that they were defending themselves against the patient's complaint. This was discussed between Mrs Chapman and the conciliators and Mrs Chapman stated who she would like to attend the meeting. Her views were respected and Dr Jackson and Dr Stapleton attended the joint meeting, as she requested. The joint meeting provided the patient, Mrs Chapman, and the General Practitioners, Dr Jackson and Dr Stapleton the following: · An opportunity to have their feelings and thoughts surrounding the complaint listened to and acknowledged · A constructive forum to answer questions that have arisen in a dispute · Equal time to speak without interuption · An opportunity to discuss the future relationship between Mrs Chapman and the surgery.

The General Practitioners responded to Mrs Chapman’s concerns about her treatment and acknowledged her questions regarding her treatment. They also agreed to action some of Mrs Chapman’s requests about giving information to patients. Mrs Chapman stated that she wanted to continue as a patient at the practice and it was agreed that the parties would start afresh after the conciliation.

It was agreed by Dr Jackson, Dr Stapleton and Mrs Chapman that the conciliators could submit a copy of the agreement to the Primary Care Trust Complaints Manager who had referred the case.