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This response
shows a high
level of goodwill
amongst providers,
who are also
keen to resolve
complaints at an
early stage.
20
Enquiries
The advocacy service managed 10,816
enquiries for the year, with 98% of the
enquiries closed within two days and 99%
within fi ve days. Of the enquiries, 7,355
(68%) were about the Code of Consumers’
Rights, the HDC, how to make a complaint
or the role of an advocate. These callers
were provided with verbal and/or written
information. Close to 9% of enquiries (941)
were escalated to complaints. Although
advocates are unable to assist consumers
with resolving complaints about matters
outside the HDC’s jurisdiction, they can
provide self-advocacy training to
consumers so they can deal with
these matters themselves.
Complaints
The advocacy service received 3,025 new
complaints and brought forward 384 from
the previous year, giving an overall total of
3,409. Timeliness is a key aspect of achieving
successful resolution of complaints. On
average, 87% of complaints are closed within
three months and 99% are closed within
six months. Ninety percent of complaints
managed by advocacy were partially
or fully resolved.
In 109 of a total of 362 resolution meetings,
providers agreed to take post-meeting
actions, which were recorded on the
resolution agreement form.
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
341
Rest Homes
305
Disability Homes
General Practice
352
340
Medical Services
In all but two cases the provider completed
the actions within the agreed timeframe.
This response shows a high level of goodwill
amongst providers, who are also keen to
resolve complaints at an early stage. During
the past year, 37.2% were simple complaints
(up to 2 hours), 54% of complaints closed
were classifi ed as standard (2–8 hours) and
6.5% were complex (8–15 hours) and about
2% of complaints were classifi ed as taking
more than 15 hours.
An increasing number of providers continue
to use these resolution agreement forms
(available from advocates) for Right 10
complaints that go directly to them. The use
of the agreement form removes the focus on
minutes that can trigger further dispute as
well as the risk of misunderstanding what
has been agreed to. The form also provides a
prompt for an agreed date for reporting back
to the consumer.
Some consumers advise that the changes to
DHB complaint processes from a centralised
system to each department dealing with
their own complaints continue to create
diffi culties for those consumers, particularly
when more than one department is involved
in a complaint. Advocates have reported
signifi cant delays in getting responses to
complaints when this approach is being
used. During the year the director wrote to
the CEOs of each DHB about the distress
experienced by some consumers when
there are delays in dealing with
their complaints.
Figure 10: Number of complaints to advocacy, by provider category
247
Surgical Services
388
Mental Health &
Addiction Services
298
Prison Health Services
818
Other