Improving communication biggest factor in resolving complaints: hospital employee
Disclosure guidelines can help point providers in the right direction
Wednesday April 23, 2008 -- Natalie Miller
Ask a person whose job involves resolving patient complaints what's at the root of most concerns that cross her desk and Janice Ward won't hesitate to answer.

As a patient relations consultant at Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH), Ward says ineffective communication is the number one reason behind health-care consumers' concerns.

“Ninety-nine times out of 100 it's the system not working,” says Ward.

“It's not ill will or malice but a break-down in communication.”

She says most of the concerns she and her colleague, Wayne MacLean, work to resolve are followed by wait times and attitude.

TEGH's situation is not unique.

In today's hectic healthcare settings, errors happen despite honourable intentions. From a nursing perspective, it's a complex system, says Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. Nurses don't go into work “thinking today I'm going to make a mistake,” she says.

“More often than not it's a result of system error.”

For instance, if a patient in hospital suddenly becomes sicker, numerous reasons could be behind his or her decline in health, explains Mike Boyce, vice-president of claims for HIROC, who sits on a working group that developed disclosure guidelines for healthcare providers.

“The real issues come about when (healthcare workers) are not really sure what happened but know something has gone on,” he says.

In the above scenario, there are numerous factors that could have taken place, ranging from food allergies to medication reactions that may not be one particular person's fault, says Boyce. However, it's important to keep patients and families informed throughout the process even if healthcare workers aren't sure what has gone wrong the moment it happens.

While there are various activities in healthcare to improve communication, professionals can now turn to a national set of guidelines for reference. Disclosing information to patients in an open and honest fashion is one way of improving patient satisfaction.

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