Full paper text [PDF 3515k] - New Zealand Parliament

CASE STUDY
28
CASE STUDY:
Consumer complaint leads to positive
action and service improvements
The mother of a severely disabled 13-yearold
boy made a complaint about the
communication processes of a Needs
Assessment and Services Coordination
(NASC) agency. The mother was primarily
concerned about the lack of transparency
in communication and also raised
issues around:
• the lack of clear information on the
types of supports available, and the
eligibility criteria
• having to constantly chase the NASC
staff for an update
• diffi culties in contacting staff.
The desired outcome for the complainant
was for the NASC agency to make
necessary improvements to benefi t
all service users of that agency.
The NASC agency was asked to
provide a detailed response to the
complaint. The response from the
agency was positive in the sense that
it met with the complainant to get a
better understanding of the issues,
took necessary steps to resolve the
complainants’ specifi c concerns and
identifi ed quality improvement steps
that would benefi t all future service users
of the agency. In light of the response, the
complaint was closed but the agency was
asked to provide an update to the HDC
on the measures taken to improve the
communication with the service
users including:
CASE STUDY:
Education for the Bhutanese community
At the invitation of the Bhutanese Refugee
Community the local advocate presented
an education session on the Code of
Rights and the Advocacy Service. This
particular group of people had recently
arrived in the country after spending
many years in refugee camps.
Using a qualifi ed interpreter, the
advocate provided the education session
requested, paying particular attention
to the consumer’s right to effective
communication, as this is an area that can
be a major barrier for this specifi c category
of vulnerable consumers who are new to
the county, are not able to speak English
and have a low level of self-confi dence.
The audience was interactive, engaging in
discussions and refl ections on the various
aspects of the Code and Right 5
in particular.
Four consumers, who had previously
faced diffi culties with their primary
healthcare providers, wished to share
their experiences. They said that
interpreters were not provided in spite
of their explicit request when they
booked their appointments.
• an update on the planned
website improvements
• an update on the changes to improve
“fi rst point of contact” for service users
• details of action taken to address
correspondence standards.
The agency provided a timely update on
the improvements made in the above
areas and also mentioned that, as a
result of the improvements, their recent
survey of consumer satisfaction with their
communication process reported a higher
satisfaction rate.
The lack of interpreters meant their
consultations did not go as well as
they could have.
The group was pleased with the
information provided, particularly when
they were given handouts in their own
language. They were pleased to know
there is a free independent organisation to
support them to have their rights upheld.