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Queensland Health Quality and Safety Program

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Consumer Complaints

Making a Complaint

What can you complain about?
Who can make a complaint?
What to do about a complaint
How to make a formal complaint
External help
What happens when we receive your complaint?
Unresolved complaints

What can you complain about?

A consumer/patient complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction or concern, by or on behalf of a consumer or group of consumers regarding the provision of a health service and health care. (Queensland Health Consumer Complaints Management Policy 2007 )

Who can make a complaint?

Patients or users of a health service are not the only consumers who may make a complaint. They can also be made by another person on behalf of the consumer/patient, such as a relative, carer, friend, consumer advocate, the Adult Guardian, or any person concerned about health care.

Complaints will also be accepted from a child, where the child is assessed as having sufficient level of maturity and understanding. If the child is considered to lack the capacity a parent or legal guardian can make the complaint on the child's behalf.

What to do about a complaint

If you have a complaint or concern there are some steps you can take which will help us help you.

• Act Quickly - Please tell us about the issue as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less clear the facts become and the harder it can be to find a solution.
• Go Local First - Complaints do not have to be in writing, you can make a verbal complaint to the health service directly. Give the local service a chance to fix the problem if you think they can.
• Make a Formal Complaint - If you do not wish to talk about your concerns with local staff or they have not been able to address your concerns, you can make a formal complaint with a Complaints Coordinator at the health service.
• Make it Clear - Set out the order which things happened, preferably with dates, and descriptions of the incident/s, phone calls, letters or meetings and let us know the action you would like us to take.

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How to make a formal complaint

You can write to or speak with a Complaints Coordinator - every district has a Complaints Coordinator whose job it is to help you. Many problems are easily resolved by people who know your region. If you are unsure if you have a complaint or wish to talk through an issue but do not wish to make a formal complaint, please feel free to contact a Complaints Coordinator as they can provide you with advice and will respect your privacy.

Alternatively, you may also use the Complaints Form to lodge a complaint and this will be dealt with by your nearest Complaints Coordinator. Please note that the Complaints Coordinator may need to be in touch with you so you need to list as many up to date contact details as possible when submitting your form.

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External Help

Your complaint may also be within the jurisdiction of an external agency such as the Health Quality and Complaints Commission. Queensland Health will cooperate fully with any inquiry carried out by an external agency.
Some types of complaints need to be dealt with under different policies and/or government agencies. These include:

• Staff complaints
  
• Public health complaints made by consumers to Queensland Health Branches that have a responsibility to investigate public health matters.

Indigenous Consumers

Every district has an Indigenous Liaison Officer whose job it is to help indigenous clients within the health service. A Complaints Coordinator can put you in touch with them to assist you with making your complaint. A Complaints Coordinator can also provide you with the contact details for appropriate external complaints agencies and can assist you to clarify the issues and document your complaint.

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What happens when we receive your complaint?

1. Your complaint will be dealt with in a confidential manner and will only be discussed with the people directly involved. Consumers are treated respectfully and with consideration to privacy, religion and cultural background.
2. Your complaint will be immediately referred to a Complaints Coordinator for preliminary assessment under the relevant procedures. You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within five days of lodging it.
3. The Complaints Coordinator will gather information to make a decision about the best way to deal with the issue/s. They will then contact you with the best options for dealing with the complaint and what will happen next. In most cases, the complaint will be referred to the health service to be resolved directly with you. In other cases the complaint will be referred to another agency or dealt with by mediation or investigation.
4. Your complaint will be dealt with as quickly as possible and the Complaints Coordinator will keep you informed about progress. We will take into account your special needs, if any, which are relevant to the resolution of the complaint.
5. We will consider how your complaint can be used to improve Queensland Health services. Your complaint may help prevent the same issue occuring to someone else in the future.
6. We will advise you of any action taken regarding your complaint.

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Unresolved Complaints

If you already have an unresolved complaint please contact the Health Quality and Complaints Commission. The Health Quality and Complaints Commission is an independent organisation that reviews and investigates health complaints.

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© The State of Queensland (Queensland Health) 2008.

Queensland Government