A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS

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dc.contributor.advisorHodkinson, Peter
dc.contributor.advisorBester, Beatrix
dc.contributor.authorSpicer, Richard Michael Frank
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-01T18:41:23Z
dc.date.available2021-03-01T18:41:23Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.date.updated2021-03-01T12:28:51Z
dc.description.abstractIntroduction Emergency medical services (EMS) play a vital role in addressing the high burden of disease posed by emergency conditions in low-to-medium income countries and it is vital to ensure that EMS care is of a high quality. Complaints and their management are an important mechanism in addressing individual patient concerns and ensuring accountability to the public. Expanding the role of complaints to effectively affect system-wide quality improvement requires knowledge of trends based on aggregated complaint data. This study aims to describe the volume and nature of complaints received by an urban EMS organisation in the Western Cape. Methodology A retrospective analysis was performed of all non-clinical complaints received for the 2018 calendar year by the call centre of a public EMS in Cape Town, South Africa. All complaint documents were collected and collated with the original case dispatch information. Complaints were categorised according to a standardised complaint coding taxonomy published previously. Complaint investigation outcomes and recommendations were analysed by themes identified during the study. Results A total of 156 complaints were received which referred to 172 patients. Complaints originated primarily from healthcare providers (72%) and patients or public (22%). Inter-facility transfers (73%) generated the most complaints. Encoding of complaint narratives revealed 302 individual service issues, which were classified into taxonomy derived domains (Clinical – 36%; Management – 44%; Relationship – 20%). The “Management” domain highlighted delay issues, accounting for 38% (116/302). Conclusion In this urban EMS, the majority of complaints are related to delays. Complaints were primarily lodged by other healthcare providers. Complaint rates lodged by patients and public are low, and would suggest that a unified and well publicised complaint mechanism is necessary, in order to increase public involvement in service quality improvement. Further research is recommended to validate a taxonomy for EMS complaints specifically.
dc.identifier.apacitationSpicer, R. M. F. (2020). <i>A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS</i>. (). ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of Emergency Medicine. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSpicer, Richard Michael Frank. <i>"A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS."</i> ., ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of Emergency Medicine, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSpicer, R.M.F. 2020. A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS. . ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of Emergency Medicine. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Master Thesis AU - Spicer, Richard Michael Frank AB - Introduction Emergency medical services (EMS) play a vital role in addressing the high burden of disease posed by emergency conditions in low-to-medium income countries and it is vital to ensure that EMS care is of a high quality. Complaints and their management are an important mechanism in addressing individual patient concerns and ensuring accountability to the public. Expanding the role of complaints to effectively affect system-wide quality improvement requires knowledge of trends based on aggregated complaint data. This study aims to describe the volume and nature of complaints received by an urban EMS organisation in the Western Cape. Methodology A retrospective analysis was performed of all non-clinical complaints received for the 2018 calendar year by the call centre of a public EMS in Cape Town, South Africa. All complaint documents were collected and collated with the original case dispatch information. Complaints were categorised according to a standardised complaint coding taxonomy published previously. Complaint investigation outcomes and recommendations were analysed by themes identified during the study. Results A total of 156 complaints were received which referred to 172 patients. Complaints originated primarily from healthcare providers (72%) and patients or public (22%). Inter-facility transfers (73%) generated the most complaints. Encoding of complaint narratives revealed 302 individual service issues, which were classified into taxonomy derived domains (Clinical – 36%; Management – 44%; Relationship – 20%). The “Management” domain highlighted delay issues, accounting for 38% (116/302). Conclusion In this urban EMS, the majority of complaints are related to delays. Complaints were primarily lodged by other healthcare providers. Complaint rates lodged by patients and public are low, and would suggest that a unified and well publicised complaint mechanism is necessary, in order to increase public involvement in service quality improvement. Further research is recommended to validate a taxonomy for EMS complaints specifically. DA - 2020_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Emergency Medicine LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2020 T1 - A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS TI - A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSpicer RMF. A descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS. []. ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of Emergency Medicine, 2020 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33036en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDivision of Emergency Medicine
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.subjectEmergency Medicine
dc.titleA descriptive study of call centre complaints and their management in a Western Cape EMS
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMPhil
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