Healthcare complaints are written by patients who experience suboptimal care with the aim of contributing to the
improvement of services. Irish healthcare services receive more than 12,000 complaints annually about hospital
care. However, these complaints are dealt with on a case-by-case basis and there is no formal process for
collating complaints and harnessing their insights. The creation of a standardised system to analyse and
interpret healthcare complaints is, therefore, crucial in order to effectively act upon, and learn from, these
complaints. The proposed research will evaluate the added value to quality and safety in healthcare of drawing on patient
perspectives of poor service using the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT), recently developed at the
London School of Economics. The HCAT is the first reliable method of coding and systemising healthcare
complaints. The proposed project will:
test, and if necessary adapt, the HCAT to ensure that complaints made about hospital care in Ireland
can be classified reliably;
use the HCAT to classify complaints made about hospital care;
use the healthcare complaints data to identify hotspots and blindspots in quality and safety in Irish
hospitals; and
use the combined expertise of a range of stakeholders to identify how the data resulting from the HCAT
analysis of hospital care can be leveraged to improve patient safety and quality of care in the Irish
healthcare system.
The proposed study brings together a team of international researchers and knowledge users with expertise in
health service research, public and patient involvement, the functioning of Irish hospitals, and patient safety and
quality of care. This team will create new knowledge in how best to organise health systems. The proposed
study will be the first national and systematic study of healthcare complaints. The findings will positively impact
healthcare by guiding patient safety and quality of care improvement efforts.
