Patient Advice & Liaison Service

How to give positive feedback / compliment

If you are happy with any aspect of the service you have received you can provide feedback / compliment to PALS. Positive feedback is always welcome.  PALS will share you positive comments with the service involved.

You can send your written feedback to:

Patient Advice & Liaison Service
Tallaght University Hospital
Tallaght
Dublin 24
D24 NROA

Or email us your written feedback to: pals@tuh.ie

What to include in your feedback / compliment

• Your name, contact details and hospital medical record number if known.
• A postal address
• Your email address and phone number
• A summary of your feedback / compliment
• Area you would wish to provide the feedback / compliment

Contact Details

Contact name: Carol Mullins – Patient Advice & Liaison Service Manager

Contact Number: 01 414 4709
Service Hours: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Email: PALS@tuh.ie

The Patient Advice & Liaison Service is located in the Atrium of the Hospital, beside the main entrance. Please note our lines can be busy, please leave a message on the answer phone if your call is not answered. Your feedback is important and your call will be returned.

How to make a formal complaint

If it has not been possible to solve your problem at a local level you can make a formal complaint to our service. 

You should make a complaint as soon as possible.  The time frame for making a complaint is within 12 months of the issue or within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue.

You can send your written complaint by post to:              

Patient Advice & Liaison Service
Tallaght University Hospital
Tallaght
Dublin 24
D24 NR0A

Or email us your written complaint to: pals@tuh.ie

What do you need to include in your complaint:

• Your name, contact details and hospital medical record number if known.
• A postal address
• Your email address and phone number
• A summary of the issues of complaint – see further detail of what this summary should include below:

o What happened?
o Where did it happen?
o When did it happen?
o Who was involved?
o What is your desired outcome?

• If you are writing a complaint on behalf of a patient please be advised that we will require a signed consent form from the patient granting permission for you to make a complaint.

If you are unhappy with the hospitals response you can request a review through the Office of the Ombudsman – further details on this process can be found on their Ombudsman Website

The link to the Ombudsman for Children website can be found here: Ombudsman for Children

If you would like support, independent of the Hospital when giving your feedback then you can contact Health Complaints. They can provide you with information on how to contact independent advocacy services. You can contact the organisation through this link.

Patient Advocacy Service
The National Patient Advocacy Service is an independent, free and confidential service that provides information and support to people who want to make a complaint about an experience they have had in a public hospital. The Service can help users make a formal complaint about a hospital experience. They have a phone line, online contact form and information on this website to help people when they want to make a formal complaint. You can contact them on 0818 293 003 or contact them via this link.

What do PALS Do?

Patient Survey Programme

The Patient Advice & Liaison services led Patient Survey Programme is built on our established tradition of engagement with the community.  It reflects the mission of the Hospital which is People Caring for People to Live Better Lives.

TUH is now launching a new in house survey in 2022 to find out about the experience of our patients and their visitors, the services we provide, what we do well and most importantly how we can do better.

The questionnaire is short so it will not take too much of your time.   The responses you provide are completely confidential.  There are many ways to complete this survey.  You can locate and complete the survey on the Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) Patient App or TUH Website.  You can also complete via our link here. 

In addition our volunteers may also from time to time approach patients in various different areas across the hospital to complete the survey on a handheld device. 

Tallaght University Hospital also participates in the annual National In-patient Experience Programme (NIPES).  This survey is undertaken each year across the country, gathering the experience of patients over the age of 18 that have stayed overnight in a hospital during month of May. 

The National Survey Programme is a joint project between HIQA, the Department of Health and the HSE. Results of the national survey are published in at year end.  You can review previous results through this link.

Ways You Can Help Us

TUH is first and foremost a place where people care for people. Given that the care we provide can come at some of the most difficult times in a person’s life, every interaction in our hospital is crucially important to ensure a high quality patient experience.

The patient journey is about every interaction the patients have within the Hospital. As a hospital that interacts with tens of thousands of people each year, it is vital that we capture the nature of these interactions and how patients experience our services. This is crucially important information which informs how we can improve our service.

Who best to provide this information but our patients, their families and visitors.
You can help TUH by:

• Tell us what is important to you – what do we do well and what areas could improvements be made?
• Observe our ‘No Smoking’ policy whilst in the Hospital but also on our grounds outside
• Observe our Infection Control Notices as you travel through the Hospital – Clean Hands Save Lives 
• Respect our visiting times – whilst it is important for patients to have visitors it is also essential they receive rest. This helps them with their recovery 
• Consider the needs of other patients and staff during your time in the Hospital

Help us to Help You

Sometimes in hospital things don’t go as well as you would like them to.  We would like to know about it so that we can endeavour to put matters right.  There are several ways you can help us to do so.

If you are an outpatient:

Please ask the staff at the registration area to put you in touch with the relevant person to speak to with in regard to your issue.

If you are an inpatient or visitor:

Please raise your concern or issue with the Clinical Nurse Manager or nurse in charge.  They will listen to you and try to take relevant actions to provide assistance at a local level.

If you would rather speak with someone outside of the department:

Please contact our Patient Advice & Liaison Service staff by phone or email who will try to help you resolve the issue at a local level without having to make a formal complaint by engaging on your behalf with our hospital colleagues. 

If you would rather speak with an independent advocate:

You can contact the relevant national independent advocacy services our Patient Advice & Liaison staff will fully engage with all outside agencies as required. 

If you had a good experience:

If you had a good experience here in the hospital we would love to hear about it.  We would like to pass on the positive feedback to the staff who cared for you during your time.  Please send your feedback to pals@tuh.ie