Information you need to provide Safe and Ethical healthcare in Victoria
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Update from the Health Complaints Commissioner
It has been such a pleasure to visit a wide range of our metropolitan and regional public Health Services in the last few months. This has provided a great opportunity for mutual information sharing. In particular, this has been a great opportunity to explore how we can best support both health consumers and health providers by providing self-help resources to help people resolve concerns without our help, and making our service easy to use for those who need us. Our wide range of resources, tools, education and information are available to help consumers raise complaints, and assist you handle their complaints quickly and effectively as close as possible to the time when they occur, and identify those situations where we can add the most benefit for providers and consumers alike.
The health provider visits and discussions have been invaluable to us as we develop key actions for our 1-2 year and long term operational plans to meet the objectives for the “Our Customers” and “Our Impact” strategic priorities in our new strategic plan outlined below. We aim to finalise our operational plans by the beginning of June. So in the meantime, please reach out if you would like to discuss the strategic plan or have input into how we work with a wide range of health service providers across Victoria.
Adjunct Professor, Bernice Redley
Health Complaints Commissioner
New Strategic plan released
We are delighted to share with you our new strategic plan for the Health Complaints Commissioner, to guide our work until 2027. We operate in a complex, constantly evolving environment where the range of health services on offer is expanding and the public expects oversight of all health care providers. We know that the public and you as the health service providers depend on us to provide you with an easy to use, objective, fair and timely service to address your needs and to use our regulatory powers to protect public safety. To this end we are redesigning how we work. Our approach is person-centred and promoting health and wellbeing is at the centre of every aspect of our work. Our strategic priorities for the future are our Users, our People, our Processes and our Impact. We are currently working on designing a delivery program for each of these priorities to ensure that we exhibit excellence in customer service, create a great place to work for our staff, exhibit best practice in complaint management and make a difference with system wide change. To read the full detail, see our Strategic plan available on our website.
2023 Education and Training Schedule
Our training schedule for 2023 is now available. Each month we offer you the opportunity to refresh or increase your skills in an online setting and free of charge. Places are always limited, so best to book in early.
Our two interactive eLearning modules are always available on the General Code of Conduct for Health service providers and the Health Records Act. We have updated these so you can download a current certificate of completion should you wish. They are also good prerequisites for some of our other seminars. You can access both courses here.
We encourage you to contact us if you would like to arrange a dedicated education seminar, tailored to your organisation's needs, or have a chat with us if there is something else you'd like. We also suggest that these sessions are kept to approximately 40 attendees if possible, as this offers the best environment for questions and answers in the online setting.
Below is an overview of all upcoming training and education seminars - this is available to book directly on our website.
Latest Prohibition Orders
The HCC has powers to prohibit a health practitioner or organisation from providing health services. These orders can prohibit part, or all, of a health service for a set period of time or permanently. Interim orders of up to 12 weeks can also be made.
Orders are only made against general health service providers, meaning those not regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), and only if the Commissioner believes they've breached the general code of conduct and pose an unacceptable risk to the public.
Prohibition orders issued in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia are prosecutable across all these states. If you would like further details on these, you can stay informed via our website.
Resources available to you
You can access a full suite of printable resources for general health service providers on our website. You may like to download a poster or two for your office or waiting area. We also have some documents and fact sheets, as well as publications available in 26 community languages on our translations page. Please contact us if you would like some hard copy brochures or posters and we would be happy to mail them to you. Get in touch today.
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If you have concerns or a complaint about a health service provider, you can contact us at 1300 582 113 or online via our complaint form www.hcc.vic.gov.au/make-complaint . You are receiving this email as you or your organisation handle health information and complaints. View our Privacy Statement at www.hcc.vic.gov.au/privacy
