Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
533. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health the avenues available to persons and families to make complaints regarding the quality of care received in public hospitals and private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12458/20]
View answerThe public health services recognise and value that it is the right of service users to comment, compliment or complain about any of the services provided by the HSE and its funded bodies. Responding effectively to comments, compliments and complaints received and learning from them is key to providing high quality customer focused services. Private patients can make complaints to their service provider, to a regulator or get legal advice.
Outlined below is a short summary of the options available to service users of public hospitals, public nursing homes and private nursing homes. More detailed information can be found on www.healthcomplaints.ie, https://www2.hse.ie/services/hse-complaints-and-feedback/your-service-your-say.html.
Complaints options for public and private patients
For nearly all types of complaint, you should complain locally as a first step. After that, your options are different, depending on whether you were treated as a public patient or as a private patient. If you were treated as a public patient, the HSE is responsible for your care.
Option 1: Complain locally
Service providers are the people and organisations that provide your health and social care. Examples include health centres, hospitals, GPs (family doctors), dentists, physiotherapists, opticians and social workers. For nearly all types of complaint, the first place you should complain is directly to the service provider.
Options 2 and 3 are for HSE and HSE funded health service only:
The HSE has a complaints procedure called Your Service Your Say. You can expect an update on your complaint within 30 days.
Option 2: Request a Health Service Executive (HSE) review (applies to public hospitals and public nursing homes only)
If you are unhappy with the initial response from the Complaints Officer, you can ask for a review from the HSE Director of Advocacy, or you can take your complaint directly to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children.
Option 3: Complain to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children (applies to public hospitals and public nursing homes only)
The Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children are independent organisations which can investigate complaints about services provided by or on behalf of the Health Service Executive (HSE) or agencies, such as charities and voluntary bodies, that deliver health and social services on behalf of the HSE. If you were treated as a public patient and you are not happy with how the HSE is handling your complaint, you should contact the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children.
Option 4: Contact a regulator
Regulators have responsibility for protecting the quality and safety of health and social care services. Regulators can regulate different things, for example, they can be responsible for health professionals, for health service quality or for medicines.
Professional regulators include the Medical Council, The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) and CORU. Service quality regulators include the Mental Health Commission and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). Medicines and healthcare product regulators include the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
If you have a complaint about a health professional or a healthcare service, it may be appropriate to complain to a regulator. Most of the regulators can take a complaint from a member of the public, but there are restrictions on how some of the regulators can handle that complaint.
Option 5: Get legal advice
If you feel your complaint is particularly serious, you may wish to get legal advice on your complaint. It is recommended to always get legal advice before you begin legal action.
Support for people who wish to make a complaint about the care or treatment they received
The Patient Advocacy Service was established by the Department of Health in 2019 and is an independent, free and confidential service that provides information and support to people who want to make a formal complaint about an experience they have had in a HSE-funded public acute hospital.
For those needing assistance in making a formal complaint about the care they have experienced in a public acute hospital, the service has more information on its website, provides an online contact form and can also be contacted by phone at 0818293003.
