Complaints about hospital services

Abstract

A retrospective study on complaints about hospital services over a one year period was undertaken at a 1,236 bed, tertiary referral centre. Of the 48 complaints received, 4 l were sufficiently detailed to be investigated. Of these 80% (33) were justified and 20% (8) unjustified. Most complaints (58.25%) were subjective in nature. They were either about the inappropriate attitude or misconduct of hospital staff (39.5%), or dissatisfaction with perceived inappropriate hospital operational procedures (I 8.75%). The areas most frequently complained about were those involving high service turnover such as the outpatient clinics, and the accident and emergency department Although complaints can serve as indicators for the need of restructuring for service improvement, they must be thoroughly investigated especially if the complaint is of a subjective nature.