Where do I complain about a hospital or a doctor?
Last updated: 2026-07-11 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
Match the complaint to the right office. For a hospital that refused emergency care, demanded a deposit before treatment, or otherwise violated the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law (RA 10932), file with the DOH Health Facilities Oversight Board (HFOB) under the Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau — by email to hfob@doh.gov.ph or in person at Building 15, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila. For urgent or general public-assistance concerns, call the DOH hotline 1555. For misconduct or malpractice by an individual licensed doctor or nurse, file a verified complaint with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Legal Service. One thing to know before you file any of these: a complaint is reviewed afterwards, and it does not get anyone out of a hospital today. If the problem is happening right now — you are being held over an unpaid bill, or asked for a deposit before emergency treatment — those are refusals you push back on at the counter, citing RA 9439 and RA 10932 by name. LabanPH has a printable hospital counter card that quotes both laws for you to show at the window, at labanph.org/health/counter-card, and a PhilHealth claim-deadline checker at labanph.org/health/claim-deadline, because a reimbursement claim must be filed within 60 calendar days of discharge and that clock does not pause while a complaint is pending. Both are free and need no account.
Do it now — step by step
- Decide the track: the hospital/facility itself (institutional conduct) or an individual doctor/nurse (professional misconduct).
- Facility complaint (deposit demand, refusal of care, unsafe practice): email hfob@doh.gov.ph, or file in person at Building 15, DOH, San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila.
- Urgent, happening-right-now situation: call the DOH hotline 1555.
- Individual doctor/nurse: file a verified complaint (or complaint embodied in an affidavit) with a Certificate of Non-Forum Shopping and evidence, in three legible copies, with the PRC Legal Service (Central Office) or a Regional Legal Division.
Cost: PRC filing fee ₱245 (indigent litigants with a certificate of indigency are exempt); no stated fee for a DOH/HFOB facility complaint
Primary sources
Frequently asked
The hospital as an institution behaved badly — where does that go?
The DOH Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau (HFSRB) is the licensing authority for hospitals and clinics, so complaints about a facility's policy or conduct — refusal of care, unsafe practice, a deposit demand — go to the HFOB under HFSRB. It can recommend revocation of the facility's license to operate on repeated violations. Use the email hfob@doh.gov.ph or Building 15, San Lazaro Compound.
A specific doctor or nurse mistreated me — is that a different office?
Yes. Misconduct or malpractice by an individual licensed professional is a Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) matter. You file a verified complaint (or a complaint embodied in an affidavit) with a Certificate of Non-Forum Shopping and supporting evidence, in three legible copies, with the PRC Legal Service (Central Office) or a Regional Legal Division. There is a ₱245 filing fee, but indigent litigants with a certificate of indigency are exempt. Many events are both a facility and a professional matter — you can file in parallel.
What is the DOH hotline 1555 for?
1555 is the DOH general public-assistance line (linked to the One Hospital Command Center), useful for triage and urgent, on-the-spot situations. It is the front-door number for the public, but a formal RA 10932 complaint is still the one filed with the HFOB, and a professional-misconduct case is still filed with the PRC.
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