The Patient Ombudsman just released her first report, which is available here.
A year of patient and caregiver conversations and complaints by the numbers:
Almost 2000 complaints
- 1431 complaints received by phone
- 553 written complaints
Complaints were made by:
- 37% patients
- 29% substitute decision-makers
- 23% caregivers
- 6% family members
- 5% other
Some complaints were rerouted to other regulatory authorities such as:
- 364 complaints sent to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
- 108 complaints sent to the Ontario Ombudsman
- 88 complaints sent to the College of Nurses of Ontario
- 59 complaints sent to the Health Services Appeal and Review Board
- 49 complaints sent to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Types of health care organizations and their top complaints:
- 70% hospitals - people were worried about inappropriate discharge, lack of communication and policies and procedures
- 19% home and community care - people were worried about delay in service, inadequate service and policies and procedures
- 11% long-term care homes - people were worried about poor care, policies and procedures, and lack of communication
Overall the top 5 healthcare issues Ontario's patients and caregivers seem most concerned about:
- 11% Inappropriate discharge
- 10% Miscommunication or lack of communication
- 10% Understanding and improving policies and procedures
- 9.5% Access to service
- 9% Poor care
Resolutions included:
- Sharing the patient or caregiver perspective with a health service provider
- Getting the right information to make a decision
- Connecting to the right person who can help
- Raising awareness of the issue
- Getting a policy or a procedure changed for the better
- Helping to prevent someone else from going through a similar experience
- Getting an apology or formal acknowledgment of the concern
A few themes:
- Patients want to be treated with greater compassion and dignity and seen as a whole person
- Patients feel they have not been given enough information and time to make fully informed decisions
- Patients and caregivers are fearful of speaking up about care in case of reprisal
- Patients and caregivers are eager to participate in their own care plans
About the author
Kate Dewhirst is a health lawyer in Toronto. www.katedewhirst.com. She also coaches lawyers on how to expand their freedom in time, impact, money and experiences by scaling their billable hour work into products.