Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2000/2001

COMMISSIONER’S SUMMARY
This has been a year of progress and consolidation within the office of the Health
Services Commissioner (HSC). Some important restructuring has taken place
internally to ensure the requirements of our legislation are met as effectively as
possible in the public interest. Much of the work undertaken during the latter half of
the year under review will bear fruit in the next financial year. This has included
staff restructuring.
Complaints handling is confidential and most are resolved in the early stages through
mediation. Beginning in the next financial year more cases will go into conciliation
much earlier in the process in the hope they can be resolved quickly in a confidential
and privileged setting. This has meant responses to complaints are required sooner
from health service providers than was previously the case. I take this opportunity to
thank all providers, especially hospital management and staff, who have cooperated
with us. Complaints that deal with issues of professional standards or allegations of
misconduct are referred to the twelve disciplinary boards including the Medical
Practitioners Board, the Dental Practitioners Board and the Nurses Board.
Discussions with these Boards have been constructive and helpful at a policy level as
well as during complaints handling.
Once again I thank all the consumers and advocacy services and the health service
providers who have assisted my officers and I to resolve disputes by providing expert
opinions and referring people to the HSC. We have received assistance from the
medical, dental and other health professions who have assisted us willingly and ably.
We could not have the success rate we currently do without this important assistance.
Health Records Act 2001
The Health Records Act 2001, passed in April 2001, has conferred significant new
responsibilities on the office of the HSC and I am delighted that Victoria’s
Government has had the confidence to entrust us with this important work. The
legislation recognises the extreme sensitivity of health information, establishes
privacy principles and gives patients a legal right of access to information about them
in medical records. The Health Records Bill 2001, as it then was, received the
support of the Opposition and this bipartisan approach will be important in its
implementation. Concerted efforts have begun in consulting with all relevant
stakeholders to provide training, develop guidelines and ensure the legislative
requirements are widely appreciated. The emphasis will be on assisting health service
providers to comply with the requirements, advising consumers of their rights and
conciliating complaints.
Complaints Liaison Officers
The HSC exists to provide an accessible and independent mechanism to receive and
resolve health complaints with a view to improving the quality of health services. I
continue to have a strong interest in quality assurance processes and encourage all
providers to include the complaints liaison officers (CLOs) on their quality assurance
committees to ensure complaints information is used constructively. I do, however,
have some real concerns about the status of the CLOs in some hospitals. Research by
Kay Currie (see page 20 of this report) has indicated they are bearing high work loads
Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2000/2001 3