A new contract of service for the Patient Advocacy Service, for the period 2022-2027 will provide for the continued delivery of the Patient Advocacy Service and the expansion of the service to private nursing homes.
The Patient Advocacy Service (PAS) provides a free and independent national service which helps people using healthcare services to make a formal complaint regarding the care they have received. PAS is extending its services over the coming year on a phased basis to private nursing homes, with the focus initially on building awareness of the service.
In its first two years of service, PAS was contacted by 1,600 healthcare service users. During this period PAS provided support for these patients on over 4,000 healthcare issues.
In an external evaluation carried out in 2021, over 85% of respondents indicated that the support they received from PAS was helpful with their healthcare complaint.
