Public complaints (DHW 2023-24 Annual Report)
Number of public complaints reported across the SA Health portfolio
| Complaint categories | Sub-categories | Example | Number of Complaints 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional behaviour | Staff attitude | Failure to demonstrate values such as empathy, respect, fairness, courtesy, extra mile; cultural competency | 1089 |
| Professional behaviour | Staff competency | Failure to action service request; poorly informed decisions; incorrect or incomplete service provided | 58 |
| Professional behaviour | Staff knowledge | Lack of service specific knowledge; incomplete or out-of-date knowledge | 0 |
| Communication | Communication quality | Inadequate, delayed or absent communication with customer | 979 |
| Communication | Confidentiality | Customer’s confidentiality or privacy not respected; information shared incorrectly | 106 |
| Service delivery | Systems/technology | System offline; inaccessible to customer; incorrect result/information provided; poor system design | 312 |
| Service delivery | Access to services | Service difficult to find; location poor; facilities/ environment poor standard; not accessible to customers with disabilities | 171 |
| Service delivery | Process | Processing error; incorrect process used; delay in processing application; process not customer responsive | 82 |
| Policy | Policy application | Incorrect policy interpretation; incorrect policy applied; conflicting policy advice given | 0 |
| Policy | Policy content | Policy content difficult to understand; policy unreasonable or disadvantages customer | 0 |
| Service quality | Information | Incorrect, incomplete, out dated or inadequate information; not fit for purpose | 10 |
| Service quality | Access to information | Information difficult to understand, hard to find or difficult to use; not plain English | 12 |
| Service quality | Timeliness | Lack of staff punctuality; excessive waiting times (outside of service standard); timelines not met | 1501 |
| Service quality | Safety | Maintenance; personal or family safety; duty of care not shown; poor security service/ premises; poor cleanliness | 177 |
| Service quality | Service responsiveness | Service design doesn’t meet customer needs; poor service fit with customer expectations | 365 |
| No case to answer | No case to answer | Third party; customer misunderstanding; redirected to another agency; insufficient information to investigate | 0 |
| Total | 4862 |
Additional metrics:
- Number of positive feedback comments — 7,848
- Number of negative feedback comments — 8,766
- Total number of feedback comments — 17,898
- % complaints resolved within policy timeframes — 79.44%
Data for previous years is available on the Data SA website.
Further information is available in the SA Health Patient Safety Report which is available on the Safety and Quality Reports web page.
Public complaints service improvements
SA Health encourages patients, consumers, families, carers and the community to provide feedback in a variety of ways. Consumer feedback in the form of compliments, complaints, advice and suggestions provides valuable insight about the appreciation for services provided across SA Health as well as the areas that can be improved. Consumer feedback drives quality improvement in our health care services to better meet the needs and expectations of all South Australians.
The SA Health Consumer, Carer and Community Feedback and Complaints Management Strategic Framework 2021-2024, Guide and Resources provides the foundation to enable consumers, carers and the community to contribute to improved health care services through open communication and shared learning. The Framework ensures that health care services:
- listen to understand what matters to the individual or community,
- act to resolve problems and learn from what did not go well,
- change to improve the quality and experience of care,
- continue to look at different ways for everyone to provide feedback, and
- ensure that feedback drives quality improvement.
The Framework is under review in consultation with consumers, Carers, and Local Health Networks Consumer Advisory and Engagement staff. The Consumer, Carer and Community Feedback and Complaints Management Policy has been approved to support implementation of the revised Framework when released.
Each LHN provides a Safety and Quality Account Report annually to the DHW to demonstrate achievements and ongoing commitment to consumer feedback as a requirement of their Service Agreements. This provides an opportunity for LHNs to showcase and demonstrate quality improvement activities identified following consumer feedback and complaints.
Consumer feedback is recorded in the Safety Learning System (SLS) Consumer Feedback module to enable the investigation and management of complaints, compliments, suggestions and advice, as well as valuable data to identify opportunities for improvement. User guides available on the intranet site assist staff with how to record and manage consumer feedback.
Compliance statement
The Department for Health and Wellbeing is compliant with Premier and Cabinet Circular 039 – complaint management in the South Australian public sector - Yes
The Department for Health and Wellbeing has communicated the content of PC 039 and the agency’s related complaints policies and procedures to employees - Yes