Policy Date: November 2025

 

Definitions

• Complaint: An expression of dissatisfaction or concern related to care at MHPH, which can be lodged directly by the patient or on their behalf by a relative, carer, or health professional.

• Informal complaint/enquiry: Addressed promptly by clinicians/staff at the point of service.

• Formal complaint: Serious or complex matters escalated to the Complaints Officer.

 

Complaint Management

Comments and complaints from consumers provide unique information about their needs and the quality of care they receive. Feedback from consumers helps improve service quality and safety of the care provided.

 

While poor complaints management can damage your service, good complaints management systems help:

• Improve the safety and quality of the service, by providing information about the experiences of consumers and carers

• Ensure the patient is always considered our first priority

• Reinforce the trust and confidence of a consumer or carer

• Promote a culture of reporting and accountability

• Prevent wasteful practices and reduce the costs, such as insurance

• Create a more satisfactory working environment for clinicians and staff, and

• Enhance the reputation of the service.

 

Principles of complaints management

• Fairness and natural justice are the foundation of complaint handling

• Confidentiality is maintained unless disclosure is legally required

• Consumers have the right to approach an independent health care complaints commission at any time.

 

Consumer Feedback

At MHPH all patients/carers are provided with Care & Service Feedback surveys to share their comments about their care and service provided.
 

Information received via the Care & Service Feedback surveys, and through the formal complaints system is collated monthly and used to adjust care and service provision as deemed appropriate.
 

Feedback is reviewed monthly and used to improve care and service provision.

Summaries of feedback and complaints are shared with relevant Hospital committees and staff including but not limited to the Private Hospital Committee, Safety Quality and Management Committee, Board of Directors, and Consumer Focus Group.
 

Summaries of feedback and complaints is displayed on quality boards throughout the hospital for the public and patients to view.
 

As per the Health Services (Private Hospitals and Day Procedures Centres) Regulations 2013, any patient, customer, or individual lodging a complaint or acting on behalf of a patient must not face negative consequences due to the submission of a complaint.

 

Open Disclosure
In accordance with our commitment to transparency and accountability, Mildura Health Private Hospital adheres to the principles of open disclosure and Statutory Duty of Candor. We recognise the importance of promptly communicating openly with patients, their families, or representatives about adverse events or incidents that occurred during their care, providing sincere apologies where appropriate, and sharing information regarding the event, its causes, and the steps taken to prevent its recurrence.

 

Roles and Responsibilities

All Employees

All employees share the responsibility of managing complaints effectively and in a timely manner.
 

Hospital staff and clinicians are encouraged to resolve complaints immediately at the point of service.

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Clinicians and staff are expected to:

• Listen, understand, and empathise with complainants

• Provide explanations, apologies, and solutions when appropriate

• Document complaints in the patient's record

• Provide an explanation and apology or expression of regret, if appropriate

• Offer solutions and find out if the solutions are acceptable

• Take action to implement the solution offered or refer the complaint to a more senior clinician or manager if required.

 

Complaints are to be escalated if:

• Complaint remains unresolved

• Involves serious consequences

• Involves complex medical issues or several different staff

• Requires action that is beyond the responsibility of the Manager

• Issue/s needs to be dealt with by someone with more authority.

 

Department Managers

Managers educate staff, handle departmental complaints, investigate issues, and suggest improvements.
 

Managers are responsible for ensuring complaints arising within their department are handled in accordance with this policy.
 

Managers are responsible for assessing and investigating complaints pertinent to their department. They will aid the Director of Clinical Services (DCS) in addressing and resolving formal complaints.

 

Director of Clinical Services / Complaints Officer

The Hospital’s DCS is the nominated Complaints Officer for the hospital. Information regarding this is provided to patients / consumers in the hospital’s Patient Information Guide. The DCS oversees complaint resolution, compliance, and reporting.
 

The DCS is responsible for:

• Ensuring appropriate action is taken to resolve individual complaints

• Ensuring recommendations for improvement arising from complaints are acted on by the relevant Department Manager

• Ensuring there is meaningful reporting on trends in complaints

• Consultation with professional registration boards, insurers and others where necessary.

 

Complaint Management Process

Consumers are encouraged to raise concerns at the point of service and escalate if unresolved. This may be done by:
 

• Talking to their nurse or doctor directly

• If not satisfied, speaking with the nurse in charge

• If still not satisfied, speak with the Nurse Unit Manager

• Formalise complaint if issue / matter remains unresolved.
   

Formal complaints are documented in the RiskMan Feedback Module and acknowledged by the Chief Complaints Officer or their designated delegate.
 

If the complaint is deemed a Serious Adverse Patient Safety Event (SAPSE) the patient, next of kin, carer or person nominated by the patient, will be acknowledged within 24hrsby the chief Complaints Officer or their designate delegate and offered an apology with 24hrs.

Reporting obligations will be guided by Safer Care Victoria’s Checklists for both SDC and Open Disclosure.
 

Medical Malpractice and Public Liability Insurance Policies are activated in the event of a person (patient or a member of the public/visitor) suffering personal injury or property damage/loss (for which the hospital is legally responsible) in the course of their dealings with the hospital, however minor the injury or damage / loss might be.
 

This means that all complaints where an incident has occurred (not near misses) must be notified as soon as practicable in writing to the Insurer via the Insurance Broker. The DCS is responsible for completing the insurer reports on a monthly basis and reporting through the MHPH governance structure to both the Private Health Committee (PHC) and the Risk Committee to ensure oversight.

 

Prioritisation

Complaints are prioritised using risk assessment tools based on likelihood and consequence ratings.
 

The purpose of prioritisation is to ensure that a standardised, objective measure of severity is allocated to each complaint. This enables an appropriate level of investigation to be conducted.

Complaint prioritisation is undertaken utilising the risk tools outlined in the Mildura Health Private Hospital Risk Management Policy. These include:
 

• Risk Likelihood Ratings

• Consequence Ratings

• Risk Code Matrix

• Risk Classification Table.

 

External Complaints

Mildura Health Private Hospital recognises that all patients have the right to complain to the Health Complaints Commissioner. It is anticipated however that initial attempts are made at a local level to resolve the complaint.

Contact details for the Health Complaints Commissioner are available upon request.

 

Privacy Complaints

The DCS is the designated Privacy Officer.

All patients are given information on how to contact the Privacy Officer, at the first point of contact with the hospital.

Staff receiving a verbal complaint should contact the area Manager who will directly address the complaint and notify the Privacy Officer. Depending on the severity of the complaint it may be prudent to notify the Privacy Officer to deal with the complaint when first received.

The DCS should be informed of the privacy breach as soon as possible after it has occurred.

Written complaints in relation to privacy are forwarded directly to the Privacy Officer.

The Privacy Officer will conduct a full investigation of the complaint which will include feedback to the complainant. Relevant documentation of the investigation and outcomes are registered in the hospital’s RiskMan Feedback module and maintained by the DCS.