Patient complaints rise

PATIENT complaints to the SDHB have jumped sharply in the past year, up more than 20%.

That figure, released by the SDHB after an Official Information Act request from the Otago Daily Times, was reflected in the number of complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner, which were up just under 30% in the same period.

From July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, 839 patient complaints were registered by the SDHB and the HDC fielded 80 complaints which related to the SDHB.

Two people complained to the Privacy Commissioner.

For the 201617 year, the SDHB had 691 patient complaints. Of those, 62 were escalated to complaints to the HDC, and three people complained to the Privacy Commissioner.

The number

of adverse event reports of incidents where SDHB patients were harmed or placed at risk of harm also rose in the same period.

As reported by the ODT yesterday, in 201718 there were 66 adverse events in the SDHB region, up from 50 the previous year.

SDHB quality and clinical governance solutions executive director Gail Thomson said it was difficult to draw a firm conclusion about the increased number of complaints.

‘‘We do actively monitor numbers of negative responses and complaints and we look carefully where we can see recurrent problems, themes or complaints from a particular area,’’ she said.

Patients were encouraged to let the SDHB know if they had not received the level of service they expected, and could do so verbally, via email, by phone or in writing.