What is the Patient Advocacy Service?

The Patient Advocacy Service is an independent, free and confidential service that provides information and support to people who want to make a complaint about an experience they have had in a HSE-funded public acute hospital or a HSE-operated nursing home.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) provides publicly-funded health and social care services. The HSE has a complaints system, called Your service your say, that you can use to make a complaint about your experience of a service provided by the HSE or on behalf of the HSE.

If you want to make a formal complaint about your experience in a HSE-funded public hospital or HSE-operated nursing home, the Patient Advocacy Service can provide information and support to help you with the complaints process.

The Patient Advocacy Service is fully independent of the HSE.

The Patient Advocacy Service provides support by phone helpline, on 0818 293003, and on its website patientadvocacyservice.ie, where you can find information and a contact form. The service can explain how to make a formal complaint, including what you should include in your complaint and how to write it.

If you make a complaint, the Patient Advocacy Service can also provide information about your options if there is a delay with the complaint or if you are not satisfied with the outcome.