Complaints
Dealing with patient complaints
Most people undergoing treatment have a positive experience. However, when things do go wrong, it's important to deal with such issues in the right way so that the individual can receive justice and the organisation can learn from what went wrong.
We can only consider a complaint that indicates a potential breach of the Act, licence conditions or Directions. We expect clinics to take complaints seriously, carry out an investigation into the issues raised, explain what went wrong and offer an apology (when appropriate).
We also expect clinics to explain what measures have been taken to put matters right. If you do this well then patients feel they have been listened to and that their concerns have been acknowledged and taken seriously.
What bad looks like:
- no formal acknowledgement of the complaint
- a lack of accuracy in the clinic’s response (for example, a letter that contains wrong names or incorrect treatment dates, indicating to the complainant that the clinic has not investigated their complaint seriously)
- apologies that feel insincere or part of a generic corporate template (for example, a complaint response that begins with “I am sorry that you felt you have cause to complain”)
- responses that ignore specific concerns or do not fully engage with the concerns raised by the complainant
- a response that contains defensive or legalistic language
- late responses or no response at all.
What good looks like:
- having access to an ‘intermediate’ contact – perhaps a general manager – to discuss a concern before submitting a formal complaint
- a response that addresses the initial complaint directly and accurately
- a personalised apology
- the offer of face-to-face meetings with plenty of time to talk through the complaint response in detail
- a single point of contact to support the complainant and help them understand what they want to achieve through their complaint
- clarity at every stage of the complaint process; if a complaint is complex in nature and may take longer than usual to investigate, complainants should be kept up to date with their case
- a final response that includes the lessons that have been learnt and what steps the clinic will take
- staff training on how the complaints system works and how to help patients access it
- training and support for staff who have had a complaint upheld about them.