SZV Director Glen Carty, SZV Corporate Secretary Ruth Boyrard-Brewster, Ombudsman Nilda Arduin and Ombudsman Bureau Legal Advisor Gwendolien Mossel.
PHILIPSBURG–Ombudsman Nilda Arduin and Social and Health Insurance SZV Director Glen Carty recently met to discuss a number of complaints filed by SZV clients with the Ombudsman. The meeting, which included SZV Corporate Secretary Ruth Boyrard-Brewster, was requested by Carty.
The meeting focused on bottlenecks experienced by SZV clients with the objective to improve SZV’s services.
Ombudsman Bureau Legal Advisor and Complaints Supervisor Gwendolien Mossel highlighted some of the main issues people complain about such as the insufficient information, which often results in unnecessary back-and-forth by SZV clients, inadequate organisation of services (non- or partial response to letters and requests), late renewal of medical cards, delays in medical referrals and a general sense of incorrect treatment by SZV clients.
The matter of pensioners, who resided on the French side, but worked on the Dutch side, and now cannot collect pension due to poor registration and control practices in the past, was deemed an issue government has to remedy.
SZV is one of the private entities with public authority ZBO which have shown improvement in serving the public, as a result of promptly following up on recommendations from the Ombudsman. Carty has acknowledged that there is room for improvement, according to the Bureau.
To rectify some of the issues from which complaints stem, SZV is working on new and improved customer service and training for staff. Also, the terms of agreements with airline companies and physicians for medical referrals need to be discussed, said the Bureau.
To create greater awareness regarding propriety in serving the public, a follow-up session for SZV management and staff will be organized by the Ombudsman.
An internal complaint procedure will be developed by SZV to create structure in handling complaints comprehensively. SZV will also facilitate an information session with the Ombudsman about its procedures.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/74784-ombudsman-szv-head-discuss-filed-complaints
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