I was treated badly at an Israeli hospital. How do I complain from the UK without starting a lawsuit?

British patients who have used the NHS complaints system arrive with a mental model that does not transfer. There is no Israeli equivalent of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman with jurisdiction over a private hospital in Herzliya, and the Ombudsman in London has none over anything that happened in Israel. What Israel has instead is a statutory complaints structure inside the health system itself, and it is more useful than its low profile suggests.

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Detailed Answer

The Patient's Rights Law 5756-1996 built the complaints route into the institutions. Section 24 requires every hospital and every health fund to appoint a public complaints officer, an internal post with a duty to investigate and respond, and that is the correct first stop for anything about the conduct of treatment, the attitude of staff, discharge against your wishes or a refusal to hand over records. Above it the Ministry of Health runs a Public Complaints Commissioner, reachable through the Ministry's online form or by post to Public Inquiries, 39 Yirmiyahu Street, Jerusalem 9101002, with a stated aim of concluding an inquiry within fourteen days and one to two months where other units in the Ministry have to be involved. Complaints going to the professional conduct of a named doctor take a different path within the Ministry, under the Physicians Ordinance, and can end in disciplinary measures against the licence. Hold on to one point throughout: none of these bodies pays money. They can find that something went wrong, require a change of practice, and produce findings that are extremely useful later. Compensation only comes from a civil claim or a negotiated settlement.

Get the medical record before you write anything. Section 18 of the same law gives the patient the right to receive information from their record and copies of it, and a refusal to hand it over requires the approval of the institution's ethics committee rather than the say-so of a department secretary, which is why a firm written request usually produces the file. Israeli institutions generally respond within about 21 days and charge a copying fee in the region of NIS 150 to NIS 200. A complaint written before you have read the record tends to be answered on the hospital's version of events, and you will not get a second attempt at the same complaint. From the United Kingdom two further points matter. Your travel insurer or private medical insurer will want the Israeli record anyway to deal with the bill, so one request serves both purposes, and a billing dispute with an Israeli private hospital is legally separate from a complaint about the care itself, even where the same episode produced both. If what actually happened looks like negligence rather than poor service, the complaint route should be run in parallel with rather than instead of legal advice, because the Israeli limitation period for a personal injury claim is seven years from the cause of action and the evidence that supports a claim is easiest to preserve early. The claim route itself is set out in our guide to medical malpractice claims in Israel for non-residents.

In Practice: Section 24 of the Patient's Rights Law 5756-1996 obliges every hospital and health fund to appoint a public complaints officer, and the Ministry of Health Public Complaints Commissioner, 39 Yirmiyahu Street, Jerusalem, aims to close an inquiry in 14 days, or one to two months where other Ministry units are engaged. Section 18 secures the medical record, produced in about 21 days for a copying fee of roughly NIS 150 to NIS 200, and a refusal needs the institution's ethics committee to approve it. Neither body awards compensation; the civil claim carries a seven-year limitation period.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The outcome was a lasting injury or a death in the family. A complaint response can be used against you later, and what you put in writing at this stage should be drafted with a possible claim in mind.
• The hospital is refusing to release the record, or has released a version that looks incomplete. Section 18 is enforceable, and an ethics committee refusal is reviewable rather than final.
• The treatment was private and the bill is disputed at the same time. Israeli private hospitals commonly ask for a release as a condition of adjusting an invoice, and signing one from abroad can close off the negligence claim without anyone saying so.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We obtain the Israeli medical record, put the complaint to the institution and the Ministry in Hebrew, and advise whether the facts justify a negligence claim before any limitation issue arises.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.