Mental health services in the Otago-Southland area attracted four complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner in the first half of this year.
These complaints, the highest for any one category, were among 13 complaints about the region's health services.
The only other categories to attract more than one complaint were maternity services and public hospital care, each recording two complaints.
Nationally, there were 268 complaints, of which 104 were about the general level of hospital care, with no particular practitioners mentioned.
The next-highest number of complaints nationally was 25, about mental health services.
The report said that in the Southern District Health Board area, when comparisons were made with earlier reports, more complaints were about inadequate treatment, while complaints about attitude/manner, diagnosis or communication with family were fewer.
Concerns about delay in treatment were significantly fewer than in the last six months of the previous year.
The rate of complaints in the Southern District Health Board area was lower than the rate recorded nationally, with the area ranked 12th for all complaints.
None of the complaints prompted a full investigation by the health and disability commissioner, Anthony Hill, although one was resolved by him.
Five of the 13 complaints required no further action, two were referred to advocacy, three to the service provider and one to the Nursing Council to resolve. One was withdrawn.
Figures in the annual report to the end of June, covering Mr Hill's first full year as commissioner, show there has been a big drop in the number of formal investigations carried out by the office over the past two years.
In the 2008-09 year there were 109 of these, although some investigations resolved by mediation may have been recorded within this figure, something that changed in subsequent years.
However, in the following year, the number of investigations was 51 and in the most recent year, they almost halved to 27.
The number of complaints resolved by referrals to health service providers and the advocacy service rose from 158 in 2008-09 to 255 last year.
The number resolved by mediation has stayed steady on five in the past two years.
During discussion of the Otago and Southland figures at the Southern DHB meeting this month, members asked how complaints were used to improve service.
Acting chief executive Lexie O'Shea said staff looked for trends and whether there was any cause for education.
She gave the example of the board "looking at getting a workshop under way" on privacy.
Asked about this by email after the meeting, Mrs O'Shea said privacy workshops were being arranged as part of a consultation process before the adoption of a new draft privacy policy.
The previous board policies required review and consolidation after the merger last year and, in recognition that privacy, in the broad sense, was an important and "sometimes complex area" of board business, the board wanted to be proactive about improving and managing risks.
Clear policy direction and staff education were seen as key to achieving this.
Concerns about privacy had not been the main driver of the review. A working group had been meeting monthly about the review since February.
