3. Learn about making a complaint
Question & Answer
I get home or community care and I’m being abused. What can I do?You can complain that a Health Service Provider (HSP) or an Ontario Health Team (OHT), or one of their staff members, employees, or contractors:
- abused you,
- neglected you, or
- gave you care in a way that was not proper or was incompetent
You can complain to:
- the HSP that employs the caregiver who abused you
- the OHT for your region if your complaint is about the OHT or someone who works for an organization that's part of the OHT
- the Ontario Health atHome office that co-ordinates your care
Complaint processes
All organizations that provide home and community care must have processes for getting and dealing with complaints. The Patient Bill of Rights says you have the right to be told, in writing, how to make a complaint.
Different types of complaints
You must use the complaint process that's right for your type of complaint. There's a different process if your complaint is about:
- abuse, neglect, or poor care that's causing you harm or risk of harm
- decisions made about your care plan, such as what services you can get
- other problems, such as your rights in the Bill of Rights not being respected
This section talks about the first process. Read about all of the complaint processes, in Complaints and appeals about home and community care services.
Ask your care co-ordinator how to make a complaint about abuse, neglect, or improper or incompetent care. They must give you written information that tells you how to make a complaint. It should say:
- who to contact,
- how to contact them, and
- what you need to tell them.
They should also tell you about any laws, rules, or policies that affect your complaint. For example, there may be time limits when making certain types of complaints. Talk to your care co-ordinator if you're not sure what to do.
Making complaints to more than one place
You can make a complaint to the HSP that your abuser works for. And you can also complain to the Ontario Health atHome office that co-ordinates your care.
If the abuser works for an organization that's part of an OHT you can complain to the OHT as well.
If your abuse complaint is very serious, you could complain to all of them at the same time.
And if you first complain to the HSP that the abuser works for, you can still complain to your Ontario Health atHome office or OHT later. You could do this if you're not satisfied with how the HSP deals with your complaint.
