Diagnosed with discrimination
Counselling and complaints options
when experiencing discrimination in the health care sector
- Factsheet on the research projekt -
Authors: Iris an der Heiden (IGES Institute), commissioned by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) Year of publication: 2024
Brief overview
Those experiencing discrimination in the health care sector are often left alone in Germany. The study “Diagnosed with discrimination. Counselling and complaints options when experiencing discrimination in the health care sector”, commissioned by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, provides evidence on that. The present study comprehensively examined counselling and complaints options in the health care sector for the first time.
The study specifically deals with the question of what happens when people seek help after experiencing discrimination in hospital, a doctor’s surgery or a pharmacy. First of all, existing contact points and complaints bodies in the health care sector were identified through systematic research and the perspective of affected people and of those seeking advice with regard to these bodies was recorded in focus groups and expert interviews. In a subsequent online survey, the bodies were surveyed on the number of requests on discrimination experiences and on how they deal with them.
The following contact points and complaints bodies were examined in greater detail with the help of case studies:
- patient-oriented complaints management in hospitals,
- patient advocates in hospitals,
- the psychotherapists’ and medical associations,
- the midwives’ association as a professional association,
- public health offices,
- Independent Patient Counselling Germany and
- the Federal Government and Federal Länder Commissioners for Patients’ Affairs.
Main results
Only a few of the existing contact points and counselling units are specialised in discrimination. Contact persons for discrimination cases in health care are hard to find. People who have been discriminated against often perceive complaints procedures as not transparent and ineffective. As a rule, contact points do not provide information on whether they are also competent bodies when it comes to discrimination experiences. The counselling and complaints handling landscape is very diverse and even hard to understand for professionals: public health offices, health insurance funds, commissioners for patients’ affairs – often it is unclear who is responsible for what. Furthermore, protection against discrimination currently very much depends on the understanding of discrimination that the responsible persons at the counselling bodies have.
Options for action
Thus, the situation of people experiencing discrimination has to improve substantially. However, there are also exemplary services and some pioneers in the health care sector.
As a result, different recommendations for action can be derived from the outcomes of the study “Diagnosed with discrimination”:
- Counselling services should be visible in all doctors’ surgeries, hospitals and other health care facilities.
- Moreover, contact points must become professional in dealing with people who were discriminated against and systematically record and evaluate cases of discrimination.
- Counselling and complaints procedures must be embedded in an overall strategy for preventing and dealing with discrimination in the respective institutions.
- Legal options for seeking redress after experiencing discrimination must be improved.
- And protection against discrimination must be specifically extended to also include medical treatment contracts, so that affected persons can claim damages.
