Purpose
Medicore Medical Services aims to ensure that high standards of service exist at every level of our organisation. Complaints from patients, service users, students, faculty or other stakeholders may be indicators of unsatisfactory standards or situations. Staff and managers who respond positively to the issues raised by complaints ensure the provision of a better, safer, quality of care and service to the benefit of all.
References
HSE Open Disclosure National Guidelines.
Procedures
The procedures to be adopted by company employees and management on receipt of complaints against the company or any of its employees or agents are set out below. Staff should familiarise themselves with its contents.
All complaints will be treated with the strictest confidence. No details of any complaint will be released/discussed with third parties without the express permission of the Managing Director and the complainant.
All staff are reminded that at NO TIME will members of staff discuss or communicate
in any way, with anyone not authorised by the company, details or the nature of any complaint received or pertaining to the company, its employees or agents.
At NO TIME will any employee admit liability to anyone concerning any complaint or incident involving the company, its employees or agents until the matter has been fully investigated and they have been authorised to do so.
While complaints may occur and can range from minor to serious, all complaints will be recorded. It will be the responsibility of the management to decide how the complaint will be dealt with. Complaints relating to Finance or training may be directed by the relevant person in that area.
In most instances’ complaints can be dealt with by explaining the circumstances surrounding the complaint. The crew, faculty or individual receiving the complaint, should advise management immediately.
Complaints of a serious nature must be submitted in writing. The company reserves the right to request complainants submit details of the complaint in writing. Complaint of a less serious nature will be received also. Both will be investigated with equal rigour.
Anyone who feels dissatisfied with the care, service or facilities provided by Medicore Medical Services can complain. Relatives or close friends of patients may complain on behalf of the individual involved, with their express permission.
Where a complaint is deemed to require additional action the managing director will obtain all the facts and will assume responsibility for dealing with the complaint. It will be their responsibility to ensure that any procedural changes that are deemed necessary relating to the complaint are recommended and, where necessary, fully implemented. They may delegate this responsibility to another member of staff if it is deemed necessary or appropriate.
Detailed reports from all personnel involved will be obtained and a file opened. This file will contain all reports pertaining to the complaint and records of all actions taken in relation to the incident. Where necessary the complainant should be asked to provide written details of their complaint. Under normal circumstances this file will be retained for a minimum of seven years. Where litigation is likely to result, the file will be retained permanently.
In all cases where a serious complaint is made against a member of staff or faculty the complainant should be asked to provide written details of their complaint.
Where a complaint is made against a member/s of staff or faculty, they will be advised at the earliest opportunity by management of the details of the complaint. They will be given every opportunity to provide details and explanations, written or verbal, pertaining to the complaint.
Only when all the facts pertaining to a complaint against a member/s of staff or faculty or the company have been established will management decide on a course of action. At all times, the principles of due process will be adhered to.
Course of action may include, but not be limited to, policy and procedure change, re-training, disciplinary action, purchase of additional equipment or change in maintenance or supply agreements.
The Managing Director, at their own discretion for the purpose of a thorough investigation, may consult independent parties, the company’s Medical Director, engineers or other professional services.
In the event that a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of complaints, they can ask for a review of the outcome by the Managing Director in the first instance. The complainant will receive a copy of the outcome of the independent review. Where an independent review so requires, a review of the complaints procedure and investigation will be initiated and presented to the Managing Director.
Where a complaint may involve legal proceedings Medicore Medical Service reserves the right to seek legal advice.
Complaints may be assessed for health and safety and quality assurance and the appropriate parties consulted. The company will cooperate with stakeholders to investigate complaints and may refer complaints to statutory bodies for further investigation.
All complaints will be reviewed during Management Meetings. In all instances they will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.
Complaints Procedure:
All complaints should be addressed, in the first instance, to the Managing Director immediately, or as soon as possible, after the event.
Failing this, complaints can subsequently be made in writing to the registered address of the company, by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., in person or by phone.
The initial report should detail the nature of the complaint together with, if possible, the names of the staff member and name of the patient.
The receiving person will communicate the complaint to the Managing Director who will contact the complainant to achieve an immediate resolution of the difficulty if possible.
If an immediate resolution is not achievable or would be an inappropriate response the Managing Director will invite the complainant to put the complaint in writing or will undertake to meet with the complainant.
In the event of a complaint, the crew member(s) will be given an opportunity to respond as soon as practicable after the event.
The company undertakes to respond formally within 5 working days to a verbal complaint and within 2 weeks to a written complaint where possible.
Any records of an adverse incident which comes to the attention of the company will be maintained for seven years.
If a complaint, whether made in writing or verbally, is found to be frivolous or vexatious the company will support its crew member(s) should they decide to invoke any appropriate bullying or harassment procedures open to them.
Notwithstanding the above, in the event of injury or allegation of injury, the company reserves the right, in accordance with its obligations to its insurers, to seek, and be guided by the advice of its insurers or solicitors before responding to a complaint.
Where a complaint has been substantiated, a root cause analysis shall be carried out and a report prepared which will be discussed at the next management meeting.
While all complaints are dealt as being genuine in nature, the company reserves the right to pursue costs and legal rebut where complaints are maliciously or falsely made against the company its staff or agents.
Appeals
Students should be made aware of the prescribed theory and skills assessments and required pass rates in order to be deemed successful as early as possible during the training course.
Students should be made aware of the appeals procedure during the assessment information.
Where requested, a copy of this document should be provided to the student.
Upon completion of the assessment(s) if the student feels the result doesn’t accurately reflect their theory and skills performance they should discuss this with the instructor / tutor before leaving the class / session.
In the first instance, the instructor / tutor should review the assessment material / paperwork with the individual student. In most cases this should be sufficient to answer any questions or concerns the student may have.
Where the student has failed to reach the prescribed standard, the instructor / tutor may be able to remediate the student as per prescribing bodies guidelines.
If remediation is unsuccessfully, or the student fails to reach the standard required for remediation, further additional steps should be outlined to indicate the route they may take to reach the required standard. This may include, re-taking an exam, re-sitting a session or taking the class again.
Where the student wishes to appeal the result of the assessment the student should write to the director of the institution outlining their grounds for appeal.
All appeals will be considered on a case by case basis and are confidential.
Where necessary the appeal will be decided upon by a competent external person with an instructor / education qualification of similar or higher grade to the original instructor.
Grounds for Appeal:
i. Extenuating circumstances which were not know at the time of the assessment.
ii. Procedural or administrative errors on the part of the institution in the conduct of assessment or in the application of regulations governing assessment
iii. Error in the evaluation of assessment material/performance
Medicore Medical Services will enable students to apply for compassionate consideration in relation to their assessment. We will enable students who have been prevented from undertaking a specific assessment activity or who feel their performance is seriously impaired because of exceptional circumstances to apply to defer the assessment i.e. to be allowed to complete the assessment activity on another occasion. The following are examples of circumstances under which we may consider giving compassionate consideration to the student:
a physical injury or emotional trauma during a period four to six weeks previously
a physical disability or chronic or disabling condition such as epilepsy, glandular fever, or other
incapacitating illness of the student.
recent bereavement of close family member or friend
severe accident
domestic crisis
terminal illness of a close family member
other extenuating circumstances.
Medicore Medical Services requires the student to provide appropriate evidence/documentation e.g. a statement from a medical practitioner.
We will consider the severity of the circumstances, the nature of the assessment activity and the quality of past achievement of the student where appropriate in making the decision to grant compassionate consideration.
There is no fee associated with the appeals procedure.
