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Regulations on handling complaints in the medical field

This article provides information on the regulations for handling complaints in the healthcare sector. The handling process includes receiving, classifying, investigating and resolving complaints in accordance with legal regulations. Healthcare facilities and regulatory agencies are responsible for ensuring that complaints are handled fairly, transparently and promptly. Understanding this regulation helps patients and healthcare facilities exercise their rights and obligations, ensuring safety and benefits when using healthcare services.

Article 7 of Decision 44/2005/QD-BYT stipulates the handling of complaints in the health sector as follows:

1. For complaints that fall under the jurisdiction of the agency or unit and meet all the conditions prescribed by law, the head of the agency or unit receiving the complaint must accept and resolve it; in cases where the complaint has signatures of many people, the complainant must be instructed to write a separate complaint to make the complaint.

2. For complaints that are within the jurisdiction but do not meet the conditions for acceptance according to the provisions of law, there will be a written response to the complainant stating the reason for non-acceptance.

3. For petitions containing both complaints and denunciations, the agency receiving the petition is responsible for handling the complaint according to the provisions of Chapter IV of these Regulations, and the denunciation is handled according to the provisions of the law on handling denunciations.

4. For complaints that fall under the jurisdiction of a lower level but have not been resolved within the prescribed time limit, the head of the higher level state agency shall request the lower level to resolve the complaint and shall be responsible for directing, inspecting, and urging the resolution of the lower level and applying measures within his/her authority to handle those who are irresponsible or deliberately delay the resolution of the complaint. In case it is necessary to apply measures beyond his/her authority, he/she shall make a recommendation to the competent state agency or person for handling.

5. For complaints that are not within the jurisdiction of the agency, or complaints that have had a final decision on the case, the agency that receives the complaint is not responsible for accepting the case but has a written instruction and response to the complainant. The instruction and response shall only be carried out once for a complaint; in case the complainant attaches original documents and papers related to the complaint, those documents and papers must be returned to the complainant.