Health Complaints on the Rise
0th December
Consumer complaints about health services have risen steadily over the past ten years, according to a book about to be published under the auspices of the UNSW.
But David Thomas, editor of Medicine Called to Account: Health Care Complaints Mechanisms in Australasia, to be published on Monday (18 November), believes that this rising tide of complaints suggests that consumers are increasingly aware of their rights and that health care providers are becoming more accountable.
The book sets out the unique system of dealing with health complaints which has evolved in different jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand since 1984. These complaints commissions operate more widely than legal measures are able to do.
Mr Thomas denies that the rising tide of complaints indicates that health care systems are in crisis. “Australian health services are still among the best in the world.”
One contributor to the book, Liza Newby, who is a former Health Commissioner of Victoria, says that the Australian model of dealing with health care complaints “has provided consumers with admirable service” and that other countries could benefit from adopting our model.
WHAT: Medicine Called to Account: Health Care Complaints Mechanisms in Australasia
WHEN: published Monday, 18 November 2002
WHO: David Thomas, editor
CONTACT DETAILS: Louisa Wright, UNSW Media office, tel. 9385 3644; David Thomas, editor and adjunct lecturer, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, tel. 9385 3687; Derek Huckel, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, tel. 9385 3618.
But David Thomas, editor of Medicine Called to Account: Health Care Complaints Mechanisms in Australasia, to be published on Monday (18 November), believes that this rising tide of complaints suggests that consumers are increasingly aware of their rights and that health care providers are becoming more accountable.
The book sets out the unique system of dealing with health complaints which has evolved in different jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand since 1984. These complaints commissions operate more widely than legal measures are able to do.
Mr Thomas denies that the rising tide of complaints indicates that health care systems are in crisis. “Australian health services are still among the best in the world.”
One contributor to the book, Liza Newby, who is a former Health Commissioner of Victoria, says that the Australian model of dealing with health care complaints “has provided consumers with admirable service” and that other countries could benefit from adopting our model.
WHAT: Medicine Called to Account: Health Care Complaints Mechanisms in Australasia
WHEN: published Monday, 18 November 2002
WHO: David Thomas, editor
CONTACT DETAILS: Louisa Wright, UNSW Media office, tel. 9385 3644; David Thomas, editor and adjunct lecturer, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, tel. 9385 3687; Derek Huckel, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, tel. 9385 3618.
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