Health Quality & Complaints Commission Act

The Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006 was legislation that created a process for patients who wish to file complaints about health care in Queensland, Australia. Under this act, patients were guaranteed personal rights in health care matters. A corporate entity was also established to handle health care complaints and take action against providers who are found in violation of the act's provisions.

Function

• The Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006 was enacted to provide government supervision and study of health services in Queensland. A major provision in this bill was the establishment of an independent commission for health service complaints. All reports are screened and reviewed by this commission, but the laws do not provide the patient the right to file a civil lawsuit if a provider is determined to be in violation. This bill also gave the commission the right to investigate complaints and refer matters to other Queensland authorities if necessary.

Health Quality and Complaints Commission

• This legislation created a Health Quality and Complaints Commission to receive and assist with health services complaints from patients. This entity is a corporation with the right to sue or be sued within the court system. The main goal of the commission is to resolve patient concerns with health services or safety standards through mediation between the patient and the health provider. If the situation cannot be resolved, the commission has the right to initiate an investigation, and any findings may be reported to the Minister of Health or other Queensland agencies.

Health Services

• According to Chapter 3 of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act, all health care providers must have reasonable procedures in place to monitor and improve the quality of services received by patients and protect the health of all persons under the provider's care. The Health Quality and Complaints Commission has the right to request documentation of these procedures from the provider. The commission can establish care standards for all providers to follow, including baselines for reviewing deaths in hospitals and public health safety. Under this act, the commission is also required to maintain a website that details any care standards enacted in full.

Code of Rights

• The Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act directed that the Code of Health Rights and Responsibilities, a bill of rights for patients in Queensland, be created by the commission no later than two years after the entity was fully functional. The code was required to cover many areas of patient rights, including the right of a person to have control over his and care and receive services that are medically necessary. The act instructed that the right of a provider to receive consideration and recognition for services performed be included in this code as well.

Complaint Procedure

• The Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act deemed complaints fall into two categories: health quality and health service. Health quality complaints are grievances about the care standards or procedures of a provider. Health service complaints involve situations where a provider denies or restricts a patient access to a health service and has no sound basis for doing so. Complaints may be made to the commission in writing, in person, on the telephone or by other long distance communication systems. The patient is required to reveal personal information, such as her name or address, but the commission has the right to keep this information confidential. The commission may take anonymous reports if the complaint involves a public health matter.

Resolutions

• When a patient makes a complaint, the commission evaluates the matter to decide if the grievance is legitimate and moves to resolve the issue through mediation with the provider. If the patient does respond to requests by the commission for information, the complaint may be dismissed. When the provider fails to respond to commission requests or is found to be at fault, the commission may consult with the health board the provider is registered with for disciplinary action or report the matter to another government entity that has the authority to investigate and discipline the provider.