The sections below provide information about how to make complaints or provide feedback about public hospitals and community healthcare services, private service providers or medical professionals.
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Understanding Complaints and Feedback…
Why is it important to provide feedback or to make complaint?
Making a complaint is important to deal with your concern about your child’s care. Providing good or bad feedback or making a complaint also helps to identify issues that are being experienced by families and patients if they experience poor service or gaps in service and can also
identify examples of good care.
The more people who share a concern, the more likely it is that it will be addressed.
How to use this page…
It can be confusing and stressful making a complaint. This page will help you understand your options, who to complain to and how to make the complaint.
1
Do you want to make an informal or formal complaint?
Some concerns can be dealt with by informing a person in charge such as a ward or clinic manager, a doctor or other person in charge.
Keep reading to learn about making a formal complaint.
2
Is the complaint about a public hospital or community service, a private service or a medical professional?
Each of these has different ways to make a complaint.
The information in the sections below will help if you are not sure.
3
Read about who to complain to and what to expect
Click below to jump to the section you need:
Public hospital service – inpatient, outpatient or emergency
Community health or social care service
Private service or medical professional
4
Learn about what to include in a complaint and who can help
What to include and who can help?
5
Find out what to do if you are not happy with the outcome
The information in the sections below will help if you are not sure.
Complaints relating to public hospitals.
Inpatient, outpatient and emergency department.
What hospital services does this include?
This includes inpatient, outpatient and emergency department care received at…
Steps in making a complaint and who to complain to
The sections below provide information about each stage of making a complaint.
Remember
Making a complaint about an individual medical professional is different to making
a complaint about a service.
See the section below on making a complaint about a medical professional for more information.
Complaints about a HSE community health or social care service
What community services does this include?
Community health and social care services are the broad range of HSE funded services that are provided outside of the public hospital system.
These services are delivered through the HSE and its funded agencies in local communities.
Remember: Making a complaint about an individual is different than making a complaint about a service.
See the section below on making a complaint about a medical professional for more information.
Steps in making a complaint and who to complain to
The sections below provide information about each stage of making a complaint.
Other types of complaints
Complaints about a medical professional or private service
Select the box below to learn about how to make a complaint about a medical professional or a private healthcare service
Making the complaint
What to include in a formal complaint
Important tips
Who can help you make a complaint?
Accessing your child’s health records…
As part of making a healthcare complaint or managing your child’s care, you may wish to access their medical records. You have a right to access this information under the Freedom of Information Act or Data Protection Legislation.
There are a number of ways you can request your child’s information:
The Citizens Information Bureau provides useful information about how to access medical records and most
hospitals have a Freedom of Information or Access Medical Information page on their website. Some of these
are detailed in the useful contact information below.
Useful resources…
RELATED RESOURCES
Ombudsman for Children
oco.ie/ | ococomplaint@oco.ie| 1800 20 20 40
The Ombudsman for Children (OCO)_ investigates complaints about services provided to children by public organisations. The service is free and independent. The OCO promotes the rights and welfare of young people under 18 years of age living in Ireland.
Patient Advocacy Services
patientadvocacyservice.ie| Contact Form | 0818 293003
Patient Advocacy Services provide independent, confidential support to help make a formal complaint against a public hospital in Ireland. This includes complaints about CHI children's hospitals, regional/general hospitals, maternity hospitals and specialist hospitals and covers inpatient, outpatient/diagnostic and emergency care.