Healthcare Experience Improvement - Queensland Health Consumer Complaints Process

Making a Complaint

Queensland Health welcomes feedback from consumers within the Public Health System. The feedback recieved from consumers provides Queensland Health with the opportunity to improve health services across the State.

What can you complain about?
Who can make a complaint?
What to do about a complaint
How to make a formal complaint
What happens when we receive your complaint?
Unresolved complaints
Policies and Procedures
Non - Consumer Complaints

What can you complain about?

A consumer complaint is “an expression of dissatisfaction on a consumer’s behalf to a responsible party” (Landon, 1980).
A complaint can be made:

verbally or in writing,
by a patient, their advocate, carer or family member (a Queensland Health Officer may act as a patient advocate when that patient is aware of and has agreed to the advocacy role),
by groups of consumers or consumer organisations, or
by members of the community.

Who can make a complaint?

Anybody can make a complaint about any service offered by Queensland Health in some circumstances a relative, carer or friend of a consumer may make a complaint . A compliant can also be made by a consumer group or advocate.
Children can also make complaints if they are assessed by the health service as having a sufficient level of maturity and understanding. If the child is considered to lack the capacity a parent or legal guardian can make the complaint on the child's behalf.

What to do about a complaint

If you have a complaint or concern there are some steps you can take which will help us help you.

Act Quickly - Please tell us about the issue as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less clear the facts become and the harder it can be to find a solution.
Go Local First - Complaints do not have to be in writing, you can make a verbal complaint to the health service directly. Give the local service a chance to fix the problem if you think they can.
Make a Formal Complaint - If you do not wish to talk about your concerns with local staff or they have not been able to address your concerns, you can make a formal complaint with a Complaints Coordinator at the health service.
Make it Clear - Set out the order which things happened, preferably with dates, and descriptions of the incident/s, phone calls, letters or meetings and let us know the action you would like us to take.

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How to make a formal complaint

You can contact a Complaints Coordinator to make a formal complaint. Every district has a Complaints Coordinator whose job it is to help you. You may also contact a Complaints Coordinator if you wish to discuss an issue and do not wish to make a formal complaint. Complaints Coordinators can be contacted through your local Queensland Health Facility
Alternatively, you may also use the Complaints Form to lodge a complaint and this will be dealt with by your nearest Complaints Coordinator. Please note that the Complaints Coordinator may need to be in touch with you so you need to list as many up to date contact details as possible when submitting your form.
Your local Complaints Coordinator can organise additional assistance such as:

interpreter and translating services
indigenous liaison officer

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What happens when we receive your complaint?

Your complaint will be dealt with in a confidential manner and will only be discussed with the people directly involved. Consumers are treated respectfully and with consideration to privacy, religion and cultural background.
Your complaint will be immediately referred to a Complaints Coordinator for preliminary assessment under the relevant procedures. You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within five days of lodging it.
The Complaints Coordinator will gather information to make a decision about the best way to deal with the issue/s. They will then contact you with the best options for dealing with the complaint and what will happen next. In most cases, the complaint will be referred to the health service to be resolved directly with you. In other cases the complaint will be referred to another agency or dealt with by mediation or investigation.
Your complaint will be dealt with as quickly as possible and the Complaints Coordinator will keep you informed about progress. We will take into account your special needs, if any, which are relevant to the resolution of the complaint.
We will consider how your complaint can be used to improve Queensland Health services. Your complaint may help prevent the same issue occuring to someone else in the future.
We will advise you of any action taken regarding your complaint.
Your complaint will not be kept on your medical record

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Unresolved Complaints

If you have exhausted your options for lodging a complaint within Queensland Health and your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you may wish to contact the Health Quality and Complaints Commission. The Health Quality and Complaints Commission is an independent organisation that reviews and investigates health complaints.

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