Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2000/2001

EXPECTATIONS AND STANDARDS
The guiding principles establish the range of responsibilities for health services and
the basis upon which a person might complain that a breach of these responsibilities
has occurred. They establish a framework for the HSC to become involved in
improving health services and to report on the problems identified and improvements
made.
OTHER STATUTORY ROLES
The HSC provides training to a wide range of health service users and providers. This
is in accordance with our functions as outlined in section 9 of the Primary Act. A
supportive working relationship exists between the HSC and the complaints liaison
officers at public hospitals and many other health services in Victoria. Dialogue
continues between the HSC, consumer representatives including the Health Issues
Centre Inc. and health service providers and their associations.
In April 2001 the Government passed the Health Records Act 2001 (the HRA) which
is a health specific piece of legislation designed to protect the privacy of health
records and to give users of health services a right of access to health information
about them. The HRA does not override existing legislation and the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI) continues to apply to the public sector. The FOI
legislation has been amended to ensure consistency with the HRA. The HSC will
place a strong emphasis on working closely with all stakeholders to ensure the HRA is
well understood.
LIAISON, TRAINING & PROMOTION
The HSC consults regularly with registration boards about complaint handling in
accordance with section 19(6) of the Act. Regular meetings between the HSC and the
Boards are held to determine the most effective and efficient ways of handling
complaints about registered practitioners. This process avoids double handling and
ensures the legislative requirements are met. The Commissioner also discusses
relevant issues with the Ombudsman, the Mental Health Review Board, the
Intellectual Disability Review Panel, the Office of the Public Advocate, the Coroner,
the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity and other relevant authorities. These links
assist our work, especially where the management of complaints involves more than
one office.
The Commissioner places strong emphasis on promotion and training to improve
accessibility of the HSC to the public and health service providers. During the year
under review the HSC has been represented at many conferences and venues to
promote the work of the Office. The Commissioner gave addresses, lectures and
training at over 100 venues. Also other staff of the HSC delivered lectures and
conducted workshops. Consumers of health services from the non metropolitan
regions, children and adolescents, Koori and Aboriginal Australians and people from
non English speaking backgrounds have been under represented as complainants and
an outreach program has been introduced to make the service accessible to them. The
employment of a full-time Aboriginal liaison officer has assisted with this. Her report
appears on page 32.
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