The Southern District Health Board has overhauled the way it deals with patient complaints.
Chief executive Carole Heatly told board members in Invercargill yesterday complainants now received a letter written in everyday language, rather than a more formal acknowledgement.
The decision to complain was not made lightly, and highly impersonal responses ''really irritated'' people. Ms Heatly outlined the improvements in response to a Health and Disability Commissioner's report which shows there were 19 complaints about the health board from July 1 to December 31.
Complaints involving attitude and manner were the most common (37%), followed by inadequate treatment (32%). The board's complaint rate of 72.78 per 100,000 discharges was higher than the national average of 63.07 per 100,000.
