Notices/posters will be displayed in all hospitals/healthcare facilities/ departments giving details of how an individual can make a complaint. The emphasis should always be on making it easy for people to complain when a matter cannot be resolved at local level. Complaints do not have to be made in writing, but will be accepted by email, in a face to face conversation or telephone conversation. The appropriate telephone numbers and e-mail addresses should be displayed clearly on the posters.

Complaint may be made by any existing or former user of the services such as the patient, their relative or friend, an independent advocate, GP or any visitor to the facility. Where it is a third party complaint, then written consent should be obtained wherever possible.

Where a patient is considered capable of giving informed consent to the release of clinical details in a complaint response, written consent must be obtained before any response containing clinical details can be made.

Complaints will not be accepted more than 6 months after the date of events about which the complaint is made, or more than 6 months after the complainant became aware of the cause for complaint if this is later, subject to an overall limit of 12 months. Exceptions to this rule may be made by the Team Leader, Customer care/ HAAD taking into account reasons for the delay and the practicability of investigating the matter.

Emphasis will be placed on resolving complaints as soon as possible after the events which give rise to them and as near as possible to the location in which they occur.

It is expected that the majority of complaints will be resolved locally with fairness and justice within the hospitals/healthcare facilities, without the need for referral to the Health Authority.

Every application from a complainant, who remains dissatisfied following the local resolution procedure, must be considered for an independent clinical review and referred to the Team Leader Customer Care Team (HAAD) for review.

Where the case is considered for independent review the file will be forwarded to the medical advisor customer care/HAAD for establishing the independent clinical review panel.

Where the complaint involves the exercise of clinical judgment, independent reviewers will be appointed in accordance with the requirements of the HAAD's Complaints Policy.

The review panel should be set up within 20 working days of the decision to do so.

The panel should aim to complete its work within 30 working days of its formal appointment.

Following receipt of a report from the independent review panel, the Customer Care Team/HAAD will request the complainant to attend a meeting with the reviewers to know the review findings and the actions that the Authority intends to take as a result of the review. This should be done within 20 working days of receipt of the report.

Action plan will be requested from the healthcare facility based on the ICRP recommendations to be submitted to the Customer Care Team/ HAAD within four weeks. Copy of the ICRP report related to the Public Sector Health Care Facility will be forwarded to Quality Department at SAHA for their information only.

After the final meeting the report with action plan will be forwarded to Quality Department at SAHA for the Public Sector Health Care Facility and to the Inspection Team/HAAD for the Private Health care facilities.

There will be provision for international independent review of complaints that cannot be resolved within the Authority, which may be due to difference of opinions of the internal review committee or non availability (specialty/ discipline) of internal reviewers in the UAE. This decision solely lies with the head of Strategy Department.