Patient Advocacy Service to expand remit to private nursing homes, mental health services

The service has a phone line, online contact form and information on its website to assist people when they want to make a formal complaint. File photo

The independent Patient Advocacy Service (PAS) is set to expand its remit to cover private nursing homes and explore advocacy within mental health services, as part of funding worth up to €31.5 million for the service.

The body, first commissioned by the Department of Health in 2018, provides free access to information and support to people who want to make a complaint about an experience they had in a HSE-funded public acute hospital or a HSE-operated nursing home.