Getting it right is important

(Aotea News, June 2011)

‘Getting it right’ is central to how we work at Aotea Pathology, and that also means understanding how and why we may have got it wrong on the rare occasions that mistakes slip though our systems.

We use an electronic system -- iTrack -- to record and help put right any patient complaints. The system guides any complaint through a formal review process that includes the input of at least three Aotea Pathology managers.

It is important for you or your patients to let us know of any concerns they have, so we can, firstly, fix any problem and, secondly, learn from it to prevent it happening again. iTrack gives us the tools to do that well.

Vicki McKnight, our quality and safety manager, explains below what patients should do if they have problems with our service.

How to make a complaint

You or your patient can telephone, email, or write to us, or log a complaint on our website.

How we act on complaints

When we receive a complaint we will:

• carefully review and investigate the complaint.
• make an initial response within five workings days of receiving the complaint. This may be by phone, email or in writing.
• fix any problems identified.
• take corrective action to prevent the problem happening again.
• advise you or your patient of the action we will take in response to the complaint.

How we log complaints

• We log all complaints into iTrack.
• iTrack notifies the relevant manager who then ‘owns’ and is responsible for resolving the issue.
• Our customer liaison manager and quality manager also receive emails advising them of the complaint. If a complaint is serious, an email is sent to our chief executive and other senior staff.
• The issue owner investigates and determines appropriate actions to resolve it. They will electronically assign actions to other staff if needed.
• Once resolved, the issue owner “signs off” the issue.
• We categorise all issues so we can spot any trends or problem areas.