Between 3 February 2020 (when HDC received its first COVID-19 related complaint) and 31 August 2020, HDC received 187 complaints about COVID-19 related issues. This equates to around 13% of all complaints received by HDC in that time period. These complaints are being carefully monitored for patterns and trends.
The most common providers complained about in relation to COVID-19 are:
- DHBs (33%)
- General practices (24%)
- Aged residential care facilities (14%)
Common issues complained about in relation to COVID-19 are:
- Lack of access to hospital care and/or deferred treatments/procedures (16%);
- Inadequate infection control policies or failure to follow such policies (15%);
- Visitor restrictions and policies around support people, including communication with family about their relative’s condition when they were restricted from visiting (14%);
- Inadequate access to primary care (12%);
- The manner in which COVID-19 screening questions and infection control policies were communicated to consumers by providers (11%);
- Care standards during Level 4 lockdown (9%); and
- Inadequate access to testing for COVID-19 and/or delays in receiving test results (7%).
HDC is liaising with the sector and the Ministry of Health about the issues it is seeing in complaints about COVID-19. For example, in April 2020 HDC raised equity and patient safety concerns regarding aspects of the COVID-19 response, including:
- Inconsistencies around the country in the ways DHBs applied the National Hospital Response Framework, such as unwarranted inconsistencies in the degree to which services accepted GP referrals, variable service withdrawals, and inconsistent treatment of patients who had elective surgery cancellations.
- Reduced health sector activity, levels of unmet need and the importance of planning for demand (the consequences of which are particularly serious for those for whom early diagnosis and treatment is key to a successful outcome).
This letter is available on our website at https://www.hdc.org.nz/media/5466/letter-to-minister-16-4-20.pdf