2. Contact the patient relations department

If a healthcare provider like a doctor or nurse has discriminated against you, you can make a complaint to the patient relations department of the hospital.

Most hospitals have a patient relations department that deals with complaints from patients or their families. Contact the department by phone or email to tell them about your experience. Information about a hospital's patient relations department is usually available on their website.

If you do complain, keep notes about things like:

• the date you complained
• the names of people you contacted
• what their response was

It's best to make the notes when things happen while you still remember them well. This is important because, as time passes, people can forget details of events. Emailing the notes to yourself can help to prove when you made the notes.

And keep copies of any written communication with the hospital or patient relations department like emails, letters, or text messages.

If you think have been treated improperly by a doctor or a nurse, you might also be able to make a complaint to the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the College of Nurses. These are professional groups that doctors and nurses belong to that make rules about the profession and deal with complaints about their members. A decision from the College can affect the doctor or nurse's practice.