Professional Social Work Interventions in Healthcare: Safeguarding Patient Rights and Strengthening Grievance Redressal Systems

Abstract

Healthcare systems are increasingly challenged to uphold patient rights, ensure transparency, and establish effective grievance redressal mechanisms in the face of complex institutional structures and power imbalances. Within this context, professional social workers play a critical role as advocates, mediators, and facilitators of patient-centred care. This paper examines professional social work interventions in healthcare settings with a focus on safeguarding patient rights and strengthening grievance redressal systems.
Grounded in social work values of social justice, human dignity, and ethical practice, the study explores how professional social workers contribute to awareness creation, rights-based advocacy, transparent communication, and conflict resolution between patients, families, and healthcare providers. The paper highlights key intervention strategies such as patient counselling, informed consent facilitation, documentation support, ethical mediation, and institutional liaison, which collectively empower patients to voice concerns and seek redress without fear of discrimination or retaliation.
Special emphasis is placed on the role of social workers in designing and operationalising accessible grievance redressal mechanisms, including patient help desks, grievance committees, and feedback systems within healthcare institutions. By ensuring procedural transparency and accountability, social workers help bridge gaps between policy frameworks and lived patient experiences. The paper also discusses challenges faced by social workers, including systemic constraints, role ambiguity, and limited institutional recognition, while emphasising the need for capacity building and policy integration.
The study adopts a qualitative, conceptual approach drawing upon existing literature, professional practice frameworks, and healthcare ethics guidelines. It argues that professional social work interventions are indispensable for strengthening patient-centred healthcare delivery and institutional accountability. The paper concludes by advocating for the formal integration of professional social workers into healthcare governance structures to enhance patient rights protection, transparency, and responsive grievance redressal systems, thereby contributing to equitable and ethical healthcare outcomes.