RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To analyse the written complaints made by users of the Primary Health Centre in Taco, Tenerife (Spain). METHOD: We designed an observational, cross-sectional study. All the complaint forms from the period 2003-2004 were analysed. We used the ODDUS classification system. RESULTS: A total of 126 complaints were made, representing 2.0 complaints per thousand inhabitants/year. Fifty nine percent were answered in the following month. Seventy three percent were women with a mean age of 40.3±12.1 years (range, 19-75). They were directed at the family doctor (31.7%), management (29.4%) and administration (16.7%). The most common complaints by categories were: a) organisation-administration (47.6%), related to a disagreement with institutional rules (11.1%), difficulties with reception desk (10.3%), suspension/cancellation of an appointment (10.3%), and appointment programme (7.1%); b) care (45.2%) referring to delay in care (28.6%) and inappropriate treatment (9.5%); c) limitations of the building infrastructure (7.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The family physician is the person who receives the majority of complaints, mainly due to a delay in treating the patient. Complaints made by users in Primary Care are a useful method of finding out patient dissatisfaction. They can help us to improve the quality of the assistance in Health Centre.
