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Make a complaint or give feedback - Complaints, concerns and feedback

HSE Your Service Your Say is our process to listen and respond to your feedback about our services. Your feedback might be a comment, compliment or complaint.

Your feedback helps us to improve our services and provide safe and high-quality care and treatment.

Comments, compliments and complaints

You can share your experience of using our services in a number of ways. You can give feedback on what worked, could improve or did not work.

In person

Tell the people caring for you today. They will try to help you straight away.

Online

Complete the online feedback form.

By email

Email us at yoursay@hse.ie

By phone

Phone HSE Your Service Your Say on 1800 424 555, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

From a mobile or outside of Ireland phone +353 1 642 4555.

Outside of these hours, you can contact HSE Live.

In writing

You can send a letter or completed feedback form to the HSE service you want to give feedback on. For example a hospital, or primary care centre.

To send us your letter or form:

  • use the feedback box at one of our locations
  • give it to a member of staff
  • ask a staff member for the right postal address for that service
  • post it to HSE Your Service Your Say

HSE Your Service Your Say,
Oak House,
Limetree Avenue,
Millennium Park,
Naas,
Co. Kildare,
W91 KDC2

Our feedback form is available in 24 languages. You can ask for a paper form at any of our locations. You can also download it from this page.

Through a complaints officer

There are complaints officers across the HSE. A member of staff can give you the contact details of the complaints officer for the service you want to complain about.

List of HSE complaints officers

Making a complaint for someone else

If you're not able to give feedback yourself, ask a relative, carer or advocate to do this for you.

Other support and advocacy

You may be able to get help and support to give feedback through different advocacy services.

These include advocacy services for people with different health conditions, age, ability or ethnic minority.

Patient Advocacy Service

If you need help to make a formal complaint about a public acute hospital or nursing home, you can get help from the Patient Advocacy Service.

Phone: 0818 293 003

Email: info@patientadvocacyservice.ie

Office of the Confidential Recipient

You can also report a concern about a vulnerable older adult or person with a disability in the care of the HSE.

You can do this through the Office of the Confidential Recipient. A confidential recipient is a person who can act as a voice for vulnerable older people and people with a disability.

Comments and compliments

A comment could be a suggestion to improve the service. It can also be an observation you made or something that we could learn from.

You can also give a compliment. For example, what a service or our staff did well.

Include details of:

  • what happened and when
  • who was involved
  • where it took place

We will share your feedback with the service or person.

Making a complaint

You may have had a poor experience and told a member of staff or the person providing your care, for example by phone or in person.

If they cannot help within 48 hours they will ask you if you want to have your complaint looked at by a complaints officer. They can send your complaint to them for you.

What to include in a written complaint

You might send a complaint using our online form, email, letter or printed feedback form.

Your complaint should include:

  • what happened and when
  • who was involved
  • where it happened
  • what your concerns are
  • have you done anything to resolve this matter
  • what you want to happen now

Please provide any extra information and copies of other relevant documents.

What happens after you make a complaint

Within 5 working days we will let you know that we have received your complaint.

Then we will:

  • look into your complaint and respond to you within 30 working days
  • contact you to ask for more time, if we need it
  • keep you updated every 20 working days after that

We might phone or ask to meet you to hear more about it.

When we are finished looking into your complaint we will provide you with a report. This will include our findings and recommendations.

Internal reviews

If you are not happy with the recommendations in the report, you can ask for an internal review. You will find out how to do this in the letter you get with your report.

In an internal review we look back over the recommendations we made. We will do this within 20 working days or let you know if we need more time.

External reviews

You can also ask for an external independent review.

How to complain to a public service provider - Ombudsman.ie

Ombudsman for Children complaints - oco.ie

Making a complaint about other services

If you want to make a complaint about a service that is not part of the HSE, contact the service directly.

This includes:

  • voluntary service providers
  • private service providers
  • services that get HSE funding

For example:

  • GPs
  • dentists
  • private nursing homes
  • voluntary hospitals
  • day services
  • other health and social care services

They will investigate your complaint. You can ask them about their complaints policy and process.

Ways to raise a concern about adult abuse

Page last reviewed: 26 January 2023
Next review due: 26 January 2026