Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2000/2001

A woman contacted HSC because she had not expected to pay the fee the doctor
charged. She had been to the same doctor many times and considered there
should be some notice that charges had been amended. The concerns were sent
to the clinic which has now placed a notice of charges on the reception desk.
A man was referred to a specialist. He contacted HSC after his operation and
said he had never been informed of all the charges involved with his operation.
The concerns were sent to the doctor. The doctor now provides an information
sheet that advises the item numbers, the amount he charges and the amount the
patient will get back from Medicare. He also advises the names of the anesthetist
and suggests patients contact them to confirm costs. Hospital charges are also
outlined.
Table 14 shows the administration issues in complaints.
Table 14. Administration issues
Administration 2%
Management Practices 20
Failure to provide certificate 2
No/inadequate response 5
Other 17
Public health standards 13
Policy 1
Total Administration 58
There were 58 complaints in 2000/01 about administration issues in health services
compared with 71 in 1999/2000. These complaints are about the ways in which
services are run rather than the medical or health components of services. Complaints
include public health standards.
A young man from Fiji needed reports and x-rays to present to the Immigration
Department. He had x-rays done at a private practice and paid $150. These
were sent to the health service which did more tests which cost him $168.00. The
health service assured the man the documents would be sent to the Immigration
Department as he requested. The documents were never received and the staff
said the documents were lost and all tests would need to be repeated and reports
re-done. In response to a complaint to the HSC, the manager of the health
service apologised in writing and forwarded a cheque to cover all additional
expenses.
An inpatient at a private hospital experienced extreme cold and draughts when
the heating malfunctioned on a very cold night. The man's brother contacted the
hospital to speak to the CEO. The staff member who rang back was very off
hand and uncaring about the incident. Although the problem was rectified, the
patient later experienced draughts again and was moved to another room. After
intervention by the HSC, the hospital responded directly to the complainant and
explained that a fan at the top of the window was causing the problem and has
since been removed.
Health Services Commissioner Annual Report 2000/2001 40