For a few women, their care during the pregnancy, labour and birth, or postnatal recovery may have brought for them unexpected outcomes and/or unmet expectations. These may have been unavoidable under the circumstances, but perhaps you were unhappy with your care, the way you were treated, the advice you were given or the interventions you received. You may have questions in your mind about the quality of care you received, or if things could have been done differently. If this is the case, you may be considering how you can provide feedback to the hospital or caregiver, or file a complaint. This may be in an effort to resolve your feelings, or to contribute towards this type of care not being given to other women.
Hospitals and caregivers who provide professional services to pregnant women and their families, are doing just that - providing a service. However, many people do not always view health services as they do other services they use in their lives. In recent years, health services providers in Australia have implemented quality assurance programs (usually to meet accreditation standards) and have started to employ patient advocates, or liaison personnel. These people are specially trained to act as an avenue for client feedback, or to effectively address complaints. Some hospitals (and caregivers) also give their clients evaluation forms.
Health service providers (like any service or organisation) need to have feedback and to continually evaluate themselves. In many cases, constructive feedback contributes to implementing strategies to rectify poor service, or for staff (or an individual caregiver) to reflect upon their practice. In addition, if an organisation is receiving repeated complaints about a specific service (or person), then these may prompt them to change a policy, or look at counseling or disciplinary action for the person involved.