What is The Health Ombudsman?
Their purpose is to protect the health and safety of the public and to maintain public confidence in the health system and health service providers.
They treat everyone fairly and act impartially in the interest on the public.
How do I make a complaint?
If you have a complaint about the health service that has been provided to then there are few ways to make a complaint.
You can make a complaint on behalf of yourself, a family member, or somebody in your care.
The more information you provide, the better.
Tel:
To make a complaint by the phone you can do so by calling:
Opening Hours
Monday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Tuesday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Wednesday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Closed weekends and public holidays
Online:
To make a complaint online you would need to fill out using their online complaints form.
By Email:
If you would prefer to contact them by email, you can fill in the Health Service Complaints Form which can be found here.
Once completed, you can email it to complaints@oho.qld.gov.au
By Post:
You can also send your complaint in the post, fill out the Health Service Complaints Form and send it to the following address:
PO Box 13281
George Street
Brisbane
Qld 4003
What Can I Complain About?
- Diagnosis
- The treatment or care provided
- sharing your information without permission
- inappropriate behaviour by a provider
- the quality of the health service provided
- how a provider has dealt with your complaint.
Who Can I Complain About?
You can complain about any health service organisation or health service provider regardless of whether they are registered or unregistered.
Health service organisation can include:
- Public or private healthcare facility (Hospital, GPs office)
- Ambulance Service
- Mental health service
- Pharmacy
Registered Health Service Providers include:
- Doctor
- Nurse
- GP
- Physiotherapists
- occupational therapists
Unregistered Health Service Providers include:
- Nutritionists
- Dieticians
- Social workers
- Speech pathologists
Complaints Process
In order for the Health Ombudsman QLD to help and assess your complaint, they would need to have as much information as possible.
They look at the information provided by yourself and the health care provider in which u have made a complaint about. In some instances, they may need to seek out 3rd party information.
It generally takes around 30 days for the ombudsman to asses all the information and for them to reach a verdict, at which point, yourself and the health care provider will be contacted.
If they decide not to take your complaint forward, you will be informed along with a detailed explanation as to why.
However, if they do decide to proceed they may do the following:
- Attempt to facilitate local resolution
- Attempt to conciliate the complaint
- Refer the complaint to the provider’s registration board, or another organisation
- Formally investigate the complaint
- Take immediate action against the provider.
