White Yellow Cross Foundation Care Foundation (WYCCF) is happy to be involved the Interisland Complaints Committee. The current eight members are Mental Health Foundation, Care For You, Saba Health Care Foundation, Benevolent Foundation Saba, St. Eustatius Health Care Foundation, Auxiliary home St. Eustatius, St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) and the WYCCF. WYCCF official Bregje Boetekees tells us more about the foundation and its involvement in the committee.
Why did WYCCF decide to get involved in this committee?
Since 2009, WYCCF was part of the shared complaint committee with St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). Due to its small scale, having separate committees just did not make sense and SMMC was very willing to do this together. In 2014, we started discussions with other healthcare organisations, both on and off island. Saba and St. Eustatius responded enthusiastically and in total we found six other organisations to join our committee. Having a complaints committee that functions well is a very important quality improvement tool for any healthcare organisation. We consider any complaint free advice from our customer and can use this to further improve the quality and safety of the care we provide. Receiving complaints and really handling these and getting recommendations from the committee on how to improve are essential in the development of our care. Complaining is never about getting staff in trouble, it’s about finding our weak spots and strengthening that weakness to avoid a repeat of the incident/situation.
Has WYCCF ever had a complaints committee in the past?
WYCCF already had its own complaint committee for several years before we joined with SMMC in 2009. This committee was functioning well and dealt with reported issues. Often a complaint is not about a medical mistake, but about how someone felt they were approached or treated. Being kind and caring and showing compassion are the most important part of the required attitude when working in healthcare. Often someone will not remember an expertly applied bandage or IV, but they will remember how you made them feel.
What has been the response as it relates to complaints received about WYCCF since the committee’s formation?
Since its start in 2014, there have been no complaints filed related to the WYCCF. However, this does not mean at all that there were no complaints. Our foundation strives to react proactively to any client or family member who reports an issue to staff or management. We invite them for a personal meeting, offer our sincere apologies and discuss what happened. But most of all, we discuss what we will do to avoid any repeat in the future. This is one of main reasons someone reports a complaint: they want to know that changes will be made so that this won’t happen again. This open and active approach has contributed to the lack of official complaints lodged at the interisland committee. Another reason why no complaints have been filed can be that clients and families are concerned that filing a complaint can cost an employee their job. This fear is important to address as this is normally not a consequence of a complaint. Any staff can make a mistake and the goal is to learn from this and improve. We have great employees in our foundation who work very hard every day to deliver the best of care. But we are all human and therefore things can go wrong. When we are informed of these mistakes and mishaps, we can work on them and do better. We therefore encourage everyone to report an incident if they feel the care was not up to standard, we welcome that very much.
Do you think patients in St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius are sufficiently aware of their rights to complain/report on healthcare related issues?
We believe this awareness is not great enough as yet. Some of the member organisations are very open about their complaints procedure and have the complaint forms visibly located in many parts of their buildings. This is what we strive for: explain the right to complain to your clients and make access to these forms and the complaints officer quick and easy.
How can more awareness be created about one’s right to complain/report?
As a committee, we need to improve this awareness and promote the right to complain to the general public. We need to encourage healthcare clients to feel safe when they do complain and we need to be open about what the process entails and what they can expect. Their fear that their complaint will cost someone their job needs to be debunked; we aim to improve the care and need their voice and input to do this.
Why in your opinion is the interisland complaint committee a positive thing?
Having members from other healthcare organisations – both locally and on Saba and St. Eustatius – has created a platform to share knowledge and learn from each other. Strong cross-island collaboration is so important and this committee helps to improve on that. We often have similar challenges and bottlenecks and this shared committee offers a bigger picture and ideas to improve the care.
How do you foresee patients benefiting from this?
A healthcare institution with a well-functioning complaint system where clients and staff feel an openness to discuss the shortcomings is a much safer care provider than one where complaints are shoved under the carpet and staff persons feel the need to hide mistakes. I would much rather stay in a hospital that has well recorded incidents and mistakes than one where no complaints can be found. The safety and quality of care greatly benefit from an open and transparent complaint and incident system and the willingness to learn and improve.
What happens after a complaint is received?
After the interisland complaint committee receives a complaint from any of the member organisations, it will be thoroughly reviewed and investigated. The objective is not to cast blame, but to find out what happened and why it happened. The complaint is often a direct consequence of a weak spot in an organisation. For example, if a mistake was made in a prescribed treatment, this can be the result of an inadequate patient file system that needs to improve. The goal is to come to sound recommendations that can lead to direct improvements in the care.
How will WYCCF handle complaints received?
WYCCF always invites any client or family member to come in right away to discuss their grievance. It is important to truly apologise for any mistake and to show understanding for their anger or disappointment. We also explain what we will do to prevent a repeat of the mistake and do things better. This is so important for the client or family to hear as they often don’t want others to go thru this same situation. If this meeting does not bring the outcome the client or family was looking for, we bring them into contact with our complaints officer. She will meet with the complainants and assist them in getting the complaint worded on the form. She submits this to the committee for the process to start.
What would you say to persons who believe that filing a complaint will get them or others in trouble?
I would tell them that their complaint is essential for us to do better. A complaint is no blame game; it is a mirror for us to look in and see where we can do better. Relatives should never fear voicing their opinion. They might wonder if the staff involved will act out towards the client who filed the complaint, but we can assure them that this will not happen. Our clients are important to us and their opinions matter. We handle complaints in such a way that staff persons feel safe and have no concern they might lose their job. As their employer, we need to give them the right tools to do better and I have never met any employee who did not want to learn. If you focus on education and training and create an open atmosphere where mistakes do not lead to retaliation, you can achieve a lot!
What would you say to encourage patients and healthcare users to make use of this right?
Speak up and let us hear your views. If you have received care that was not up to par in any of our member institutions or if you felt treated in any way that was not kind or professional, we need to hear from you. You will help us and all our other clients to receive better care. Your complaints will create safer quality care – a goal we all strive for.
