Hospital complaints ‘on the rise’

A GOLD Coast medical negligence specialist says legal complaints about local hospitals are on the rise.

The comments come after a Grattan Institute report found one in four patients who go to an Australian hospital for an overnight stay suffer complications.

Shine Lawyers medical law expert Clare Eves said the report was “not surprising”.

Ms Eves said the firm had experienced an “increase in the amount of inquiries from patients who are dissatisfied with the care they have received at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Districts”.

“Reports of extensive waiting times in emergency are still far too common with some patients being sent home without receiving satisfactory answers and care,” she said.

A Gold Coast Health spokeswoman said there had not been any increase in legal action against Coast hospitals.

“Personal injury claims brought against the health service have not increased in the past five years. In fact, as a proportion of the patients we now see, (they) are decreasing,” she said.