Record number of patient care complaints launched in B.C. in 2017/18: report

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Local hospitals have been told to look at how they deal with patients at risk of falling along with the importance of not pre-judging people in the ER who appear to be homeless or suffering from mental health or addiction issues.

Those are just some of the recommendations after a record number of patient care complaints were officially registered against health authorities in B.C. between 2017 and 2018.

The 9,493 complaints and enquiries lodged with B.C.’s Patient Care Quality Review Boards were for things like deficiencies in care, misdiagnosis or medication-related concerns. However, attitude and conduct of staff were also listed as common complaints, along with wait times, or access to services.

Record number of patient care complaints were made in BC last year, resulting in dozens of reviews and recommendations to health authorities. Among them, reviewing fall prevention & the importance of not prejudging ER patients who appear homeless/addicted.https://t.co/RNvsBVPnWo

— Mike Lloyd ☕️ (@llikemoyd) June 13, 2019

The report found that care as a subject of concern came up 3,379 times, followed by attitude and conduct — logged at 1,594 times.

The third most common complaint had to do with accessibility, at 1,323 concerns logged, with communication coming in fourth and discharge arrangements following in fifth spot.

Most of the complaints were dealt with and resolved at the local level, but the latest Patient Care Quality Review Boards report indicates dozens of complaints were escalated and resulted in reviews and more than 50 recommendations.

pcqrb-annual-report-2017-18

Regional recommendations

A number of recommendations have been made in order to “improve the quality of patient care and/or the quality of the complaints process itself.”

“These recommendations are intended to both resolve individual concerns and improve health-care processes, policies and services for all involved,” the report reads. “The boards view each complaint as an opportunity to improve the quality of our health-care system.”

The recommendations were broken down by region.

For the Fraser Health authority, they included developing better safety plans for patients who are at risk for falling.

Among the recommendations for the Vancouver Coastal Health Region were a review the importance of not pre-judging the appearance of patients in the ER, along with continued training regarding palliative care, including pain management and emotional support and communication with families.