Complaints procedure

Complaints procedure - Bronovo Hospital
This information leaflet explains how you as patient, immediate family member or relative can register a complaint or feelings of dissatisfaction in Bronovo Hospital.

In our hospital, great attention is paid to good quality care. The staff of Bronovo Hospital make every effort to do their work as efficiently and carefully as possible. However, human error can occur and this can sometimes lead to dissatisfaction.
The best way to deal with this is to speak directly to the person concerned or to the person in charge. If you are still not satisfied, you can submit a complaint to the Patients' Ombudsman or the Complaints Commission.

The aim of this complaints procedure is:

• to take away your feeling of dissatisfaction
• to prevent similar complaints in the future
• to improve the quality of patient care.

What are the options if you have a complaint?

1. The quickest solution .....
   You discuss the matter with the member of staff involved or with the person in charge. This is often the quickest and most effective way to solve the problem.
   
   
2. The Patients' Ombudsman (The Patients' confidential mediator)
   It may be that you are not satisfied with the outcome of your discussion with the person(s) immediately involved or, indeed, you may find it difficult to approach them with your complaint. In that case, you can ask to see the Ombudsman who is a specially appointed independent staff member. You can explain your problem to the Ombudsman who will advise you how to deal with it and can act as a mediator between you and the person about whom you are complaining.
   
   The advantage of this procedure is that a rapid solution can usually be reached. Your complaint will, of course, be dealt with in the strictest confidence.
   How can you contact the ombudsman?
   You can contact the Ombudsman on Tuesdays from 09.00 to 14.30 hours, Thursdays from 09.00 to 17.00 hours, Fridays from 09.00 to 14.30 hours.
   
   Or you can telephone for an appointment (tel: 070 - 312 41 41 / 312 45 22), or write to Postbus 96900, 2509 JH The Hague.
   
3. The Complaints Commission
   You can submit your complaint in writing to the hospital's Complaints Commission, which is an Independent commission that can make a judgement on your complaint.
   The Ombudsman can give you more information about this procedure and, if necessary, can help you to set down your complaint in writing.

Who can submit a complaint?
The patient him/herself, an (appointed) representative or a relative.

How do you submit a complaint?
Give the following information:

1. Your surname, initials and date of birth
2. Your address, postcode and telephone number
3. The name of the person about whom you wish to complain
4. The Department or ward where you experienced dissatisfaction.
5. The date on which the incident occurred
6. A description, as accurate as possible, of the incident (you can also add the names of any other person(s) or witnesses involved)
7. Place, date and your signature.

What happens to your complaint?
The Commission will initially decide whether your complaint should be considered for mediation or a formal hearing.

A. Mediaton
A formal hearing is not always necessary for every complaint. The Commission can, therefore, sometimes advise you to try to resolve your complaint by mediation. If you do agree to this, the Ombudsman, at the request of the Commission, will contact you.

B. Formal Hearing
The procedure is as follows:

• you submit a written complaint
• based on this, the person against whom the complaint is directed, will be requested to reply in writing
• if necessary, you can react to this written response to your complaint

This procedure takes not more than four months. On the basis of this "complaint and counter-complaint", the Commission makes a judgement on the validity of your complaint. The judgement will be sent to you and to the person against whom you have submitted a complaint.
Based on their findings, the Commission can then make a recommendation to the hospital's management on an improvement in the quality of patient care. You will be informed about this recommendation and, within a month, you will be told by the management if they have taken action based on this recommendation.

Important!

• you must make it clear if the complaint does not affect you personally
• if you are complaining on behalf of someone else you must give his/her personal information in detail and must state what relationship you have to the person involved.

Within a week, you will receive written confirmation that your complaint has been received. You will also be asked to give written permission that your medical details can be inspected.

Address:
Complaints Commission Bronovo Hospital
Reply number 96006
2509 VG The Hague
Tel: 070 - 312 42 29
Fax: 070 - 324 83 33

Complaints Regulations
The complete "Complaints Regulations in Bronovo Hospital" (written in Dutch) is available for inspection in the office of the Secretary to the Directors on the fourth floor of the hospital. You can also ask for a copy.

Secrecy
The members of the hospital's staff, the Ombudsman and the Complaints Commission are sworn to secrecy. Information will only be passed on to a third party if the person concerned has given them written permission to do so.

Costs
Mediation and a formal hearing of your complaint are free of charge within the hospital.

4. You take your complaint to an authority outside the hospital
Should you decide to have your complaint dealt with elsewhere, you are kindly requested to inform the hospital's Management of the action you are taking.