Complaint Handling Standards - revision 2023
The powers and responsibilities of the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) are established by the Health Complaints Act 2016 (the Act). Section 132 of the Act requires the HCC to develop standards that Victorian health service providers must meet when handling complaints. The Act requires a broad range of health services to meet the standards and there is significant variation in the size and type of health services that these standards apply to - from hospitals and clinics, to doctors and dentists, allied health and alternative therapists.
The original 11 complaint handling standards were developed and implemented in 2019, following extensive consultation, and aimed to ensure complaints were being used to improve quality and safety in the Victorian healthcare system. These standards are now due for revision.
Our Consultation is open to our key stakeholders including consumer and patient advocacy organisations, public and private health service providers, peak industry bodies and other key stakeholders for whom the standards have relevance. Our Advisory Council and internal stakeholders have also been given the opportunity to provide feedback, and we encourage feedback from a wide range of our stakeholders.
The Commissioner is consulting widely to ensure the standards reflect the Victorian community's expectations. A draft of the revised standards was reviewed and approved by our Advisory Council in July 2023.
We welcome your response to some or all the consultation questions. You can do this in one of the following ways:
- Complete the consultation paper and return it via email as indicated.
- Click on this link to complete our online survey
Our online survey is available until 18 October 2023. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete.
The draft Complaint Handling Standards document is now open for public comment until 18 October 2023.
HCC Service Charter - Revised for 2023
The Health Complaints Commissioner’s powers are established by the Health Complaints Act 2016 (the Act). Section 124 of the Act requires that the HCC prepare a ‘practice protocol’. For the purpose of this consultation, we will refer to the practice protocol as a service charter.
A service charter describes what services an organisation provides and how its consumers can expect to be treated. A service charter may also include information about what is expected of service users or, in this case, complainants and health service providers. This consultation seeks your views on matters that will inform the revision of the HCC’s service charter.
We're revising our HCC Service Charter to guide our work and outline our service delivery commitments. The service charter explains our commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability, while reflecting the guiding principles of the Act.
We welcome your response to some or all the consultation questions. You can do this in one of the following ways:
- Complete the consultation paper and return it via email as indicated.
- Click on this link to complete our online survey
Our online survey is available until 18 October 2023. The survey will take about 4 minutes to complete.
The draft Service Charter document is now open for public comment until 18 October 2023.