Office of the Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2008

Primary Issues in HRA Complaints
Complaints under the HRA continue to
account for approximately 10% of all
accepted case.
These complaints are most frequently about
the refusal of access to private health
records about the complainant (45%) and
breaches of privacy (37%).
32
39
Legend
Access & Correction
Anonymity
Collection
Data Quality
Identifiers
Info available to another HSP
Use & Disclosure
4
1 3
6
1
Figure 4
Breakdown of Issues - HRA
A woman had been on leave from her job for a number of months related to a physical condition as
well as a psychological condition. She had recovered from her physical condition and was ready to return to
work. She was directed by her employer to undergo an assessment with an independent psychiatrist to
determine her fitness to return to work.
She attended the appointment with the psychiatrist, who explained to her the purpose of the
examination. The psychiatrist had received a letter from her employer, which the woman had not seen,
setting out the reasons for the fitness for duty assessment, and requesting the psychiatrist provide the
employer with a report. The session was lengthy and required the woman to discuss her family history,
personal relationships, her medical conditions and issues in her workplace. The psychiatrist told the
woman at the end of the session that he would be informing the employer she was fit to return to work.
Angela Palombo and Jesinder Bhullar
Legal and Policy Officers
The woman obtained a copy of the psychiatrist’s report and discovered he had written a lengthy report
covering all aspects of her life, which had been sent to her employer. The woman returned to work but was
distressed that her employer had been told details about her life that the employer did not need to know.
She was expecting the psychiatrist would merely be writing a short report and stating she was fit to return
to work.
The woman lodged a complaint against the psychiatrist for disclosing unnecessary information to the
employer, and to the employer for collecting information they did not need to know. The complaint was
conciliated by the HSC. The psychiatrist agreed that in the future, he would discuss with patients the nature
of the report that would be sent to the employer in the case of fitness for duty assessments, and he would
use his professional judgement, in consultation with the individual, as to how much information it was
necessary for the employer to know. The employer agreed that when requesting a fitness for duty
assessment from a psychiatrist or psychologist, they would ensure the health professional only release to
them information it was necessary to know for managing the employee’s performance in the workplace. A
monetary settlement was negotiated for the distress and humiliation suffered by the woman.
The major issues in HRA complaints
can be seen in Table 21 below.
Access & Correction
Info available to another HSP
Access refused 36 Information refused 3
No written reason for refusal 2 Unreasonable time in delivery 1
Correction refused 1 Excessive fee 2
39 6
Anonymity
Use & Disclosure
Refusal of anonymity 1 Disclosure - Inadequate consent 29
Collection Disclosure - Inadequate disclosure 3
Breach of in-confidence details 2 32
Unnecessary collection 1 Data Quality
Unlawful/Intrusive collection 1 Data inaccurate, incomplete or out of date 2
4 Unsatisfactory protection 1
3
Identifiers
Misuse 1
Total 86
Table 21
HRA Issues
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Office of the Health Services Commissioner | Annual Report 2008