Programs - Health Complaints & Counselling Desk

The Health Complaints and Counselling (C&C) Desk is an independent mechanism to address violations of health rights of health consumers. The programme is implemented through installation and use of suggestion boxes at participating health units, documentation of health complaints, counselling services, constructive dialogue and mediation between the aggrieved consumers and the accused health facility, and information sharing with stakeholders.

The objectives of the programme are:

• Build a net work of health providers, professional bodies and government agencies to jointly address questions and complaints from health consumers
• Provide a channel for health consumers to voice their questions and complaint
• Offer counselling services to health consumers with questions or complaints on health service
• Document, categorizes, and publicize health complaints and questions of health consumers and disseminate these health facts to relevant stakeholders at national level
• Start and maintain a constructive dialogue with policy makers, professional bodies and health practitioners on possible improvements in the health care sector

Redress mechanism

Health consumers are sensitised under other HEPS-Uganda programmes to know and demand for their health rights and live to their health responsibilities. They voluntarily report violations to an independent HPS C&C Desk set up at health centres in the target communities.

HEPS analyses and forwards to, and follows-up the issues raised with the various duty bearers at the health centre for appropriate redress. Although often at first resisted by health workers for needless fears that it could land errant ones in trouble, this feedback mechanism has in the end usually proved to be a mirror upon which the health providers can evaluate themselves and see how to improve, while at the same time enabling the health consumers to appreciate the challenges faced by the health workers.

C&C in Eastern and Northern Uganda

HEPS-Uganda has initiated the C&C programme at health centres in Pallisa and Budaka in Eastern Uganda, and in Lira in Northern Uganda. Suggestion boxes were installed at four health centres, to help in collecting complaints. The collected complaints are processed and a report written and discussed by a technical team HEPS-Uganda set up in partnership with the district health office. Illegal fees and rudeness of health workers have come up as the top complaints from health consumers.

In Lira, HEPS-Uganda sensitised health workers who attended a two-day sensitisation workshop on health rights and health responsibilities of health consumers in 2008. At the end of the workshop, whose major aim was to build a mutually respectful relationship health providers and health consumers, health workers welcomed the idea of a health complaints handling desk being established at the health centres where they work.

As a follow-up, HEPS-Uganda was to proceed with the installation of compliments/ complaints boxes at Ogur Health Centre IV, Orum HC IV, Alebtong HC IV and Lira Hospital. The boxes in positions easily accessible to health consumers visiting the health workers and wish to compliment or complain about the services received. By the end of the year data was still being collected.

HEPS’ C&C programme has been piloted at selected health facilities in Kampala, Kamwenge, Pallisa and Budaka districts to improve communication between health workers and their patients through a mechanism that collects, analyses and seeks redress to complaints from health consumers. However, the implementation of the C&C programme continues to lag behind the other strategic programmes due to lack an enabling law in Uganda.