A big rise in Health and Disability Commissioner complaints about Southern District Health Board services has been revealed.
Thirty-two people complained to the patient watchdog in the last six months of 2014, a report to a hospital advisory committee in Invercargill today shows.
It was 60% more than the same period the previous year, and 79% more than the average of the previous four six-month periods.
Nationally, the 368 complaints about DHBs between July and December were the most received in a six-month period, the report says.
The national increase was 15% compared with the last four six-month periods.
Patient services medical director Dick Bunton said the board was examining the numbers to discover why and where complaints increased at Southern.
Mr Bunton noted a high proportion concerned waiting lists and other service access issues (18.8%), compared with the national average of 11%.
''It was access and funding issues that seemed to be disproportionate when you compared it to national data.''
Mr Bunton said the board took solace from the fact the HDC closed 28 older complaints about Southern during the same period, and did not find a single breach of patient rights.
''While the number of complaints have increased, we haven't seen an increase in breaches or adverse outcomes in regard to the HDC investigations.''
With 118.5 complaints for every 100,000 patients, Southern had the fifth-highest rate of the 20 boards.
The national average was 77 for every 100,000 patients.
A note from management to board members says the increase included a significant rise in mental health complaints.
However, as a proportion, mental health complaints were slightly higher in 2013.
