After the very disturbing conversation that I’d had with another physician in June (read my post on Betrayal for details), I finally submitted a detailed complaint to the hospital’s Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner in mid-August. On August 21 I received a call from their office; to let me know that they’d received the documents, and that they’d be looking into the issues I’d raised.
The woman who called thanked me for providing this ‘valuable feedback’ to the hospital, and reassured me that I’d done the right thing by writing to them. She also assured me that the file would be handled as confidentially as possible.
She briefly described the review process, and advised me that someone from the Commissioner’s office would get back to me within 45 days, with the results of the hospital’s assessment. She mentioned that they could potentially request an extension of up to 15 days, and that I’d be advised if an extension proved to be necessary.
I never heard anything back from them, until today. When I got home from work there was a nondescript envelope in my mailbox, from the hospital; I was so eager to read the results of their investigation (they call it an ‘assessment’) it that I opened it outside. Standing in the road.
And was immediately disappointed. The half-page letter from the hospital’s Assistant Commissioner is dated November 8, and states that they received my complaint on August 16 and had 45 days to respond. The letter acknowledges that their response was due by September 30 – but this letter is dated November 8!
There’s no mention of the entire month of October, only that “I require more time to examine your complaint”.
So they’re already 39 days late, and are only telling me of a delay now. When the Commissioner’s office had called me back in August, they’d told me that I’d be apprised of any extension after the initial 45-day period. But they didn’t do that.
And they haven’t providing any timeline whatsoever as to when I can expect a response to my complaint; only that it “will be sent to you as promptly as possible”.
This process isn’t starting off well, it seems. I’ll try to reserve judgement, but am already struggling to understand why they couldn’t have advised me of the delay after the initial 45 days… 39 days ago!
