The Profile of Patients’ Complaints in a Regional Hospital

Background A hospital should be an institution of understanding and respecting patients’ rights, their families, physicians and other caregivers. Hospitals and all other healthcare centers must be cautious toward respecting ethical aspects of care and treatment. On the other hand, patients’ satisfaction reflects capabilities of physicians and medical staff as well as the extent patients’ rights and treatment quality are observed. Nowadays, complaints handling is considered as an essential component of healthcare system in line with promoting health standards. In the present study, researchers attempt to identify the resources, individuals, complained issues, and measures which are considered to handle these issues in a regional hospital.   Methods We employed a descriptive, cross-sectional study to conduct this research. The research population included cases registered at the complaints unit of one of the hospitals in Isfahan in selected months of 2012 to 2013. The data were collected through observation of available documents. Excel software program was used for data analysis.   Results Findings indicate that despite a decrease in the total number of complaints, there was an increase in the number of complaints about medical staff. Nursing staff were considered as the second highly complained unit during the study period.   Conclusion Results obtained from the present study can be taken as experiences to modify and amend the hospital’s future performance. In general, the existence of complaints in a system is an indication of gaps when providing healthcare services. Creating an organized system to collect complaints and reviewing them helps hospitals to be cognizant of their defects and plan to prevent their reoccurrence.