Analysis of the impacts by the implementation of the Mental Health Law on the complaint services at psychi-atric hospitals

Abstract

Objective To explore and compare the contents of complaint letters at psychiatric hospitals before and after the implementation of the Mental Health Law of the People’s Republic of China （MHLC）,figure out measures to improve the complaint satisfaction and settled rate,reduce the number of complaints and re-complaint rate.Methods 1376 complaint letters were compared and analyzed in this retrospective research for statistics analysis and comparison,covering 958 letters received before the implementation of MHLC （from 2008 to 201 1 ）and 418 letters received after the implementation of MHLC （from May 1st 2013 to April 30th 2014）.Results Most of the complaints focus on hospital staff attitude before and after the implementation of MHLC, accounting for 39.67% and 30.38%respectively.The complaints targeted mostly at the outpatient clinic 46.45% and 49.28% respectively. Significant changes are found with the contents,departments and main reasons of the complaint letters. Conclusion The causes and the influencing factors of such changes were analyzed,and measures to improve the complaint services at psychiatric hospitals were proposed. Key words: Psychiatric hospital; Complaint letters; Retrospective study; Psychiatric hospital; Complaint letters; Retrospective study