A newly established Patient Advocacy Service is offering support to people in the Northern Sound region who want to make a complaint about the care they have received in a public hospital.
The service provides free, independent and confidential information and support to people making a formal complaint about their care in a HSE funded, public acute hospital.
The patient advocate also helps people prepare for meetings with the HSE about their complaint, and offers guidance following a response from the HSE to their complaint.
Claire Lehane is the Service Manager for the Patient Advocacy Service, and says people in Cavan and Monaghan have often felt there was nowhere for them to turn when they experienced difficulties with the health service.
Claire told Northern Sound that patient advocates help people navigate the "complex" complaints system:
