Dealing with dissatisfaction in healthcare

Reproductive healthcare is akin to any other service provision industry. There are quality standards to be met, equally balanced by service provision targets. Sometimes things fall short, and you may find yourself on the aggrieved end.

Dealing with human life demands much more than a casual approach to service delivery. There is so much potential for things to go wrong in reproductive healthcare. And this happens now and again. It may be a delay in getting your results, an unexpected complication or rarely a fatality. Whatever it is, a measure of dissatisfaction arises. Cracks begin to emerge between you and your care providers. How do you deal with this?

Communication gaps

If you get dissatisfied with any aspect of your reproductive healthcare, you must always find a way of getting things redressed. Seek out a member of your healthcare team and discuss your concerns with them. A face-to-face discussion may all that might be required to iron out the issues at hand. Spell out your grievances clearly, and be upfront about what your expectations are. No point raising your temperatures to near physical confrontation. Most issues arise due to poor communication between patients and their carers, and matters get easier once communication gaps are sorted out.

A verbal response may not always satisfy your grievances. This opens up the avenue for a written complaint. Each healthcare provider should have clear guidelines on how to do this. Again be very explicit about what the matter is. You should expect a rapid response. An apology should come your way pretty quick, without necessarily being an admission of liability. You also want to hear about new measures that will be put in place to minimise the chance of a similar event happening again. You should expect a relatively senior person to be part of the team responding to you.

Vigilant

You may feel that you are owed some form of compensation depending on what may have transpired. Some cases are pretty obvious, and a mutually agreed compensation package may be easy to come up with. That may help deal with some of the consequences resulting from the service provision gaps. It is not unusual sometimes to feel the need for legal redress. But don’t head to the courts for the sake of it. What you want is a timely redress to wanting service, not a prolongation of your agony with unending legal hurdles.

Raising issues about dissatisfaction with healthcare is aimed at improving subsequent service, and not merely a pursuit of blame and compensation. Once matters are resolved, you should expect subsequent care to be a notch higher. But continue being vigilant, you deserve the highest quality of healthcare.

Quick facts

• Be ready to express dissatisfaction with healthcare.

• Be vigilant, you deserve the highest quality of healthcare.  

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