How to complain about the medical treatment and conditions at the institution during your stay?
When placed in a mental health care institution involuntarily, you may have complaints about various things. For example, the quality of the medical treatment, the quality of food or the general physical conditions at the institution.
You can submit the following complaints:
It is important to firstly seek a solution within your section of the mental health care institution. Depending on the gravity of the issue, you might turn to the nurse, your doctor or the head of the section. If your problem is not solved, you should complain to the administration of the hospital.
If the institution where you are staying is not able or willing to solve the problem, you can turn to the Executive Agency “Medical Audit” at the Ministry of Health. The way to write an application is explained on the website of the Еxecutive Agency “Medical Audit”. You may complain to the Agency when: your treatment was delayed/unnecessary prolonged; your diagnosis or treatment were not correct; you did not have access to your medical file; your doctor had not explained to you in an understandable way your diagnosis, treatment, possible effects; your doctor had performed your treatment without your informed consent; you did not receive timely medical care.
The Agency will consider your application for free, make a decision on the next appropriate step and ask you for further documentation, if necessary. The Agency must respond to you within one month. If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Agency, you should appeal according to the order indicated in the decision.
If you are health insured you can also complain about possible violations (if medical care was not provided to you but was reported as provided; if the quality of the medical care did not correspond to the contract between the doctors and the Health Insurance Fund; if you were refused access to your medical file; if the doctors asked additional undue payments from you) to the Regional Health Insurance Fund.
You can also write an application to the national Ombudsman. Find more information about the functions of the Ombudsman and the order of complaints.
The personal and medical information that you have given to the institution has to be handled and protected according to the Personal Data Protection Act. If you consider that your right to data protection have been violated, you may turn to the Commission for Protection of Personal Data.