Who Can Help Me Make a Complaint About a Public Acute Hospital?

The complaints officer is a member of staff employed by a HSE funded service who investigates complaints made about experiences in that service.

It is the role of the complaints officer to independently and fairly investigate complaints relating to experiences in that service. The complaints officer will keep you up-to-date on the status of your complaint.

The complaints officer will also assist you in ensuring that you have included all the relevant information in your complaint, and will explain to you the complaints process.

The complaints officer can also refer you to independent support for assistance through the complaints process, such as support from the Patient Advocacy Service.

Note re. hospitals: The list of contact details for hospital complaints officers can be found at this link

In addition to complaints officers, some hospitals also employ staff under a service called the Patient Advocacy Liaison Service (PALS). Staff of PALS work within the hospital system, and can offer support to you making a complaint.

The PALS service is different to the Patient Advocacy Service, which this website relates to. The Patient Advocacy Service is entirely independent of hospitals, nursing homes and the HSE, and receives no funding from the HSE. Therefore, the Patient Advocacy Service is well placed to provide independent support to patients where required.

We can offer information and support to you with making a formal complaint to the HSE about a Public Acute Hospital from Stage 2 onwards, and every stage after that, including making complaints to external organisations like the Ombudsman.

This means you should first have made a Stage 1, informal complaint, before seeking support from the Patient Advocacy Service to escalate your complaint.

• The Service can help you to understand the HSE complaints process, called ‘Your Service, Your Say’.
• We can explain what to include in your complaint and how to write a complaint.
• We can explain your options if there is a delay to your complaint, or if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint.
• We can explain how to escalate your complaint and where to escalate your complaint to.

Check out our FAQ and step-by-step guide  

Currently, the Patient Advocacy Service can  provide assistance if you wish to make a complaint about your care in a Public Acute Hospital or Nursing home. 

Therefore, if you have a complaint about an experience you have had in a primary care centre, in a community setting, in a residential service, at the GP or somewhere else outside of a hospital setting, then the Patient Advocacy Service is not currently available to provide advocacy support.

More information about your complaint options for these settings can be found on the Ombudsman’s website. 

You can apply for information and support from one of our advocates by phoning our national line between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, on 0818 293003.

The Patient Advocacy Service provides assistance to service users of Public Acute Hospitals.

The list of hospitals is as follows:

Ireland East Hospital Group 

• The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin
• St. Vincent’s University Hospital Dublin
• Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar
• St. Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny
• Wexford General Hospital
• Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan
• St. Columcille’s Hospital Loughlinstown Dublin
• St. Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire
• Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital Dublin
• Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Dublin
• National Maternity Hospital Dublin

RCSI Hospitals Group 

• Beaumont Hospital Dublin
• Connolly Hospital Dublin
• Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda
• Louth County Hospital Dundalk
• Cavan General Hospital
• Monaghan Hospital
• Rotunda Hospital Dublin

Dublin Midlands Hospital Group 

• St. James’ Hospital Dublin
• St. Lukes Radiation Oncology Network
• The Adelaide &Meath Hospital (Tallaght Hospital) Dublin
• Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore
• Naas General Hospital
• Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise
• The Coombe Women & Infant University Hospital Dublin

UL Hospital Group 

• University Hospital Limerick
• University Maternity Hospital Limerick
• Ennis Hospital
• Nenagh Hospital
• Croom Orthopaedic Hospital
• St. John’s Hospital Limerick

South/South West Hospital Group 

• Cork University Hospital/Cork University Maternity Hospital;
• University Hospital Waterford
• University Hospital Kerry
• Mercy University Hospital
• South Tipperary General Hospital
• South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital
• Bantry General Hospital
• Mallow General Hospital
• Lourdes Orthopaedic Hospital Kilcreene

Saolta University Health Care Group 

• University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital
• Sligo University Hospital
• Letterkenny University Hospital
• Mayo University Hospital
• Portiuncula University Hospital
• Roscommon University Hospital

Any person, including children, receiving a health or personal social service by the HSE or a HSE-funded service provider can make a complaint.

Where a person cannot make a complaint independently due to age, illness or disability, the complaint can be made on their behalf by a close relative or carer of the person, any person who by law has the affairs of the person, any legal representative of the person, any other person with the consent of the person, any person who was a close relative or carer of a deceased person who at that time would have been entitled to complain, any other person who is appointed as prescribed in the regulations.

It is the policy of the HSE to ensure that children of sufficient age, reason and understanding are encouraged and supported to provide feedback or to make a complaint about any aspect of the service they have received from the HSE or relevant healthcare provider. Their feedback and, in particular, their complaint should be taken seriously and responded to appropriately, like a complaint made by an adult.

You can appoint anyone to advocate on your behalf, including family or friends, you may wish to appoint a professional advocate.  You may also appoint a legal representative to advocate for you.

You can ask anyone to help you make a complaint, including family or friends. You may wish to make the complaint by yourself or you may choose to appoint someone to help you manage your complaint. Many services have advocacy support available onsite. You can check what supports are available at your service. If your complaint has moved to stage 2 of the HSE complaints process, you may be eligible for support from the Patient Advocacy Service.

If you have a disability and require support to make a complaint you may be eligible for support from the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities. Please follow link to see other possible support services that may be able to offer support.

On this page you will find a list of other organisations who can help you with a complaints process.

Your service’s complaints officer can provide you with further details on options available to you if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint.  If you are not satisfied with the response you received at Stage 1 of the HSE complaints process and you wish to make a formal complaint, you may be eligible for support from the Patient Advocacy Service. The Patient Advocacy Service is entirely independent of the HSE.

Staff of the Patient Advocacy Service are fully professional, trained in the area of patient advocacy and bound by a code of practice.