Office of the Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2008

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Who Complained and How? Thirty Nine percent of complainants were female and 25% male and in 36% of cases the gender was not stated. As expected, public patients comprised the largest group (74%) of patients who complained. The majority of complaints were made via telephone call (51%) or letter (24%), 11% by personal visit and 14% by other means. The age and patient type of consumers are shown in Table 22 and 23. 25% 36% 39% Legend Male Female Not Specified Figure 15 HCIP - Gender Consumer Profile Age Total Under 1 29 1 – 4 52 5 – 14 148 15 – 24 334 25 – 34 361 35 – 44 280 45 – 54 79 55 – 64 287 65 – 74 208 75+ 415 Not Specified 1191 Total 4184 Patient Type Total Public Patient 3102 Private Patient 0 Dept of Vet Affairs 0 Not Specified 1082 TAC 0 Ineligibe Patient 0 WorkCover 0 Total 4184 Table 23 HCIP - Patient Type What Was the Complaint About? During the period under review the reporting Hospitals received, and dealt with, 4184 complaints. A complaint may be multi-faceted, for example it may be concerned not only with poor communication but may also be about inadequate treatment, however the analysis in this report is based on the primary issue. The diagram below shows the primary issues in complaints. CLOs are not constrained by legislation and may deal with any issues brought to their attention. This gives them flexibility and every year they resolve many complaints promptly and effectively. The HSC supports them through their organisation the Health Services Table 22 HCIP - Age Analysis Liaison Association and by providing orientation training and support. Nineteen percent of complaints concerned communication issues. Treatment issues were 20%, while Access issues remained steady at (37%) and cost issues (7%), rights issues (11%) and administration (6%). Hospital services can be complex and sometimes, clinical sections may not communicate well with, for example, administration. This can result in problems and distress for patients and their families. A more specific analysis of issues forms Appendix 2. 11% Legend 6% 20% 20% Access Administration Communication Figure 16 HCIP - Issues 37% 6% Cost Rights Treatment Site and Service at Time of Complaint 1636 1162 550 343 152 86 32 137 41 45 Admission Aged Care Day Procedure Unit Emergency Department Hospital Grounds Intensive Care Unit Operating Theatre Other Outpatient Clinic Ward Figure 17 HCIP - Site 32 Office of the Health Services Commissioner | Annual Report 2008
2006-2007 2007-2008 Admissions 236 152 Age Care 41 86 Day Procedure Unit 70 32 Emergency Department 567 550 Hospital Grounds 247 137 Intensive care 57 41 Operating Theatre 121 45 Other 1065 1636 Outpatient Clinic 496 343 Ward 998 1162 Total 3898 4184 Table 24 HCIP - Site Services Figure 18 shows 13% of complaints were made about services provided in the emergency department, orthopaedic surgery 8%, gynaecology 3%, aged care 2%, general medicine 4%, general surgery 3% and outpatient clinic 2%. A more specific list of services forms Appendix 3. Figure 18: HCIP – Services 59% 13% 8% 3% 2% 3% 4% 4% Legend Emergency Obstretrics Gynaecology Aged Care General Surgery Unknown General Medicine Outpatient Clinic Orthopaedic Surgery Remaining Providers 2% 2% Figure 18 HCIP - Services How Serious Were the Complaints? Thirteen percent of complaints were categorised as serious or substantial and 35% as routine. The remaining 52% were listed as either minor or trivial. All complaints are treated seriously by the Complaints Officers as patterns of minor complaints can still reveal systemic problems that need to be addressed. If complaints are not resolved internally the complainant may be advised of the right to take the complaint to the HSC or the appropriate registration board. Please refer to Appendix 4 for a full categorisation of complaint outcomes. Minor Routine Substantial Serious Total Access 902 516 139 5 1562 37% Administration 111 76 59 0 246 6% Communication 499 212 105 1 817 19% Cost 151 87 38 0 276 7% Rights 156 185 108 5 454 11% Treatment 387 376 51 15 829 20% Total 2206 1452 500 26 4184 100% 52% 35% 12% 1% 100% Stage of Complaint Process Table 25 Seriousness of Complaints Number of Complaints Resolved 3847 Lapsed 887 Not Upheld 188 Remedial 156 Referred 118 Change in Policy 76 Total Number of Complaints 5272 Table 26 Outcomes of Complaints Office of the Health Services Commissioner | Annual Report 2008 33
Page 1 and 2: HERE FOR ALL VICTORIANS Office of t
Page 3 and 4: Contents Glossary of Abbreviations
Page 5 and 6: Beth Wilson Victoria’s Health Ser
Page 7 and 8: Health Services Review Council Pres
Page 9 and 10: Membership Council members are repr
Page 11 and 12: Statutory Functions Office of the H
Page 13 and 14: Public Interest Issues Cancer Treat
Page 15 and 16: Throughout this Report anecdotal in
Page 17 and 18: How Complaints Are Managed The enqu
Page 19 and 20: Assessment Report An Assessment off
Page 21 and 22: Lynn Buchanan Senior Conciliator HS
Page 23 and 24: Year Board notifications discussed
Page 25 and 26: Reasons For Complaints Complaints r
Page 27 and 28: Communication The sub-issues where
Page 29 and 30: Categories of Accepted Complaints A
Page 31 and 32: Dentists Most complaints made about
Page 33: Hospital Complaints Data Complaints
Page 37 and 38: Manager, Executive Services Michael
Page 39 and 40: Human Research Ethics Committees (H
Page 41 and 42: Merit and Equity Employment The OHS
Page 43 and 44: Providers Last year’s report indi
Page 45 and 46: Corporate Services Joe Barczak Info
Page 47 and 48: Appendix 1 Providers by Type and Me
Page 49 and 50: Appendix 3: HCIP Service provided a
Page 52: Office of the Health Services Commi

Office of the Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2008

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