Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2009 - Health and ...

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY
The Nationwide Health
and Disability Advocacy
Service (including
members of the National
Advocacy Trust and
Kaumātua Network) at
the March 2009 National
Advocacy Conference in
Hamilton.
(Photo: Tony Daly)
Thirty-four percent of complaints about mental health services relate to service quality (Right
4), and a total of 33% are about communication, information, and consent (Rights 5, 6, and 7).
Consumers made up 60% of those who made complaints to an advocate, 37% were made by
a third party on behalf of the consumer, and 3% were referred from HDC. Of those making a
complaint who provided their ethnicity, 17% were Māori.
Fifty percent of complaints related to consumers aged between 41–60 years, 25% related to
26- to 40-year-olds, and 17.5% related to consumers aged between 61–90 years.
A total of 6,547 complaints were managed during the past 12 months. Ninety-one percent of
the 3,565 complaints that were closed during this time were fully or partially resolved so the
consumer was able to move on.
A key aspect of the advocacy resolution process is the rebuilding of relationships, as this is
particularly important for those consumers who need ongoing contact with the same provider.
Consumers are often impressed during a face-to-face resolution meeting by the willingness
RESPONDING TO A COMPLAINT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
A male prisoner complained to HDC that the prison had failed to accept the seriousness of his eye
condition. Despite this being spelled out by the eye specialist in front of two Corrections Officers, there
was a delay in the prison organising a return to hospital for an urgent follow-up appointment. The
man received no explanation of why he hadn’t been taken to his appointment, or reassurance that his
condition could wait. He found health staff dismissive when he asked what was going on. This was very
worrying and stressful for him.
The consumer was referred to advocacy. The advocate met with him to clarify the key issues and a
resolution meeting was organised with the relevant prison staff. Ongoing actions were recorded on the
“complaint resolution agreement”. These consisted of a written apology and acknowledgement of the
anxiety caused by the lack of communication and information, feedback to be provided to Health Unit
staff about the incident, as well as the updating of the relevant protocol relating to communication
between the hospital, health unit, and custodial staff. Finally, he was to receive feedback on the policy
and process changes as a result of his complaint.
The consumer was pleased with the outcome of his complaint as significant changes have been put in place
to make sure the process is clear to all parties, so there will not be a repeat of what happened to him.
16 E.17