Our patients feedback matters

At Fresenius Medical Care we are dedicated to serving our patients with compassion and respect and with the aspiration that each patient receives the highest standards of care and service. Our patients’ well-being is our top priority. In our Global Patient Care Policy, we outline principles, responsibilities, and processes in connection with our global medical strategy and quality management, patient experience surveys and patient grievance mechanism.

We value and invite patients’ feedback, to better understand their needs. We measure patient experience in our dialysis clinics using the Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS reflects patients’ overall satisfaction with our services and to what extent they feel well cared for and supported. Our aim is to continuously obtain excellent scores and improve patient experience despite challenges such as staffing shortages and global crisis.

In addition to experience surveys, we proved patients and their representatives with other feedback channels. Patients can report grievances, makes suggestions, or raise concerns – also anonymously if they wish. We aim to make our complaint process simple and transparent, so patients can focus on what is most important – their health and well-being. Upon admission, they receive an information package that explains how they can make complaints and bring any concerns to our attention. It is important to us that they understand the details and are aware of the processes.

We strive to promote the processes and make information available as part of our quality of care and encourage open discussions with patients. The information packages and communications procedures are adjusted to each region’s specific needs and therefore they may differ slightly in each country.

We offer a variety of complaint channels to our patients and encourage our patients to make use of them. The channels include direct interactions with the individual caregivers and clinic management, complaint and suggestion boxes in the dialysis clinics, dedicated hotlines and email addresses, and a feedback form on our website. All staff in our dialysis clinics is ready to provide specific local information about complaint procedures.

Complaints could be related to the dialysis treatment itself, our facilities, the way our team interacts, and a variety of other topics. Our policies allow patients to file reports without fear of reprisal.

We are committed to resolving issues in a timely manner. When a complaint is received, we initiate an investigation. Our dedicated team will review concerns thoroughly and, if needed, we may reach out to the patients or their representatives for additional information.

Upon completion of the investigation, we will share the findings with the patients, along with information on any steps we are taking to resolve the issue. Our goal is to address grievances promptly and ensure patients feel heard and valued. We also firmly uphold a policy of zero tolerance towards retaliation.

Patients’ feedback is vital to us, as it helps us improve our services. By hearing patients’ concerns and acting, we can continue to enhance our quality of care and our patient experience. Our grievance process is an integral part of our commitment to maintaining open communication and offering the highest quality of care.

In our complaints and grievance mechanism, we not only address concerns related to our dialysis services but also place a strong emphasis on respecting our patients' human rights. This includes the right for quality of care and health equity as well as access and availability of services and treatments. We firmly believe that every patient deserves to receive high-quality care, have access to the services they require, and be treated with fairness regardless of their age, gender, nationality, cultural and ethnical origin, sexual orientation, disability, or educational background. Upholding these rights is integral to our company’s mission and values. Our patients' feedback is invaluable in helping us maintain these standards and continually improve our commitment to human rights in patient care.

We encourage our patients and their representatives to share concerns with us. We are in this journey together; patients are valued members of our community.