BackOmbudsman Peter Tyndall has today, 13 June 2014, announced an investigation into how complaints are handled by public hospitals in Ireland and has asked members of the public for their assistance. The Ombudsman’s wide ranging investigation will look at how public hospitals across the State manage and investigate complaints from patients and their families.
Speaking today, the Ombudsman said:
“Despite the high number of interactions with our hospitals, relatively few people complain when they are unhappy with the service they receive. Compared with other jurisdictions, complaints to the HSE and to my Office are very low. I want to find out why this is. I want to ensure that people have access to an efficient and effective complaint handling service and to be confident that where poor practice is found, the health service is learning from its mistakes and preventing recurrence.”
The investigation will include site visits/inspections of selected hospitals, interviews with front line and senior staff, focus groups with members of the public, consultation with interested groups, and examination of complaints dealt with by the HSE and the Ombudsman.
The purpose of the investigation is not to examine or re-examine individual complaints, but rather to assess the overall quality of the complaint processes and procedures in place at present. The Ombudsman hopes to publish his findings and conclusions in early 2015.
As a first step the Ombudsman is asking members of the public to let his Office know of their experiences, both positive and negative, of making a complaint about a public hospital. Were their concerns addressed? Did they receive a timely response? Were they told of their right to complain to the Ombudsman? Were they happy that the hospital had learned from any failings in their care?
If they didn’t make a formal complaint despite being unhappy with the service they received, the Ombudsman would also like to know why.
The Ombudsman hopes that his investigation will be of relevance and assistance to the HSE and the Department of Health as they both strive to develop the health service further over the coming years. International experience has shown the value of efficient and effective complaint handling services in the delivery of safe and high quality patient services.
The Ombudsman has set up a number of ways the public can share their experiences.
Through his website: www.ombudsman.gov.ie
By E mail: hsecomplaints@ombudsman.gov.ie
By telephone: 1890 22 30 30
By FREEPOST to: Ombudsman, 18 Lr Leeson Street, Freepost F5069, Dublin 2
Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Ireland
