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A study of people who have lodged a complaint with the Health Services Commissioner

Page contents: About the study | Providing informed consent to participate in the study | Information about research participants’ confidentiality and privacy

The Health Services Commissioner (the Commissioner) is reviewing the Office’s complaints handling process and has asked the Social Research Centre to speak with people who have made a complaint to the Commissioner in the past few years, to talk about their experiences of the complaint process.

The Commissioner has recently sent letters inviting people to participate in a public consultation process about a review of legislation associated with the Commissioner’s role. The research study is not directly related to the public consultation process but is occurring at a similar time to make sure that people who have lodged a complaint, and had it closed, have opportunities to contribute their views about how to improve the complaints process.

The research will be undertaken during October 2012 and a research report will be published on the website during the first part of 2013.

About the study

Health consumer complaints are an essential part of making sure that Victorian health services are of high quality and provide services safely. When health consumers make a complaint about a problem encountered, there is an opportunity to learn from that event and to make improvements.

Understanding more about the consumer experience of the Victorian Health Services Commissioner complaints system can help improve how complaints are handled and how health service organisations and health practitioners can learn from the complaints that consumers lodge.

The survey questions are designed to give you an opportunity to express your views about how your complaint was handled and whether there is anything that the Health Services Commissioner can do to improve the complaints process. Questions cover areas such as whether you think the process was impartial, if it was easy for you to make contact, and if you were kept informed of what was happening with your case. There are no questions about your health information.

All the information that participants provide is confidential and privacy is protected. The Social Research Centre has been contracted to conduct the survey and data provided back to the Health Services Commissioner for analysis will be completely non-identifiable, which means that no individual can be identified. There is more information about the approach to safeguarding participants’ confidentiality and privacy in the section below titled: Information about research participants’ confidentiality and privacy.

If you have any queries or would like to check the bona fide of the research company, you can contact the principal researcher for this study, Dr Clare Carberry at the Commissioner’s office on the following phone number 1800 451 776

Providing informed consent to participate in the study

The purpose of the interview is to help the Commissioner understand, from your perspective, the process that you went through when you lodged a complaint, what you understood the Commissioner would be able to do for you, what you hoped would be achieved and how you felt as you went through the complaints process. We will also ask you for your suggestions about how the Commissioner’s complaints process can be improved.

Would you like me to send or email to you more information about the interview and the research?
Or would you prefer that I provide you with the details of the Commissioner’s website where more information is provided?

The survey has been approved by the Department of Health’s Human Research Ethics Committee and participation is completely voluntary. You can choose not to answer any question or to end the survey at any time. Your answers will remain completely confidential and your privacy will be protected. The Commissioner and her staff will not know who did or who did not participate as all identifying information is removed from the answers you provide.

Informed consent

If you agree to be interviewed by us, we will ask you to give us what we call ‘informed consent’ – this means that you are providing us, the Social Research Centre, with permission to speak to you and ask you questions about your experience of the Commissioner’s complaints process.

Can I confirm that you are happy to go ahead on that basis?
Would you like to have some time to think about that?

If you would like to speak to someone else about the research, you can speak to Dr Clare Carberry at the Commissioner’s office on 1800 451 776

Once consent for the interview is provided:

There are a few other things I need to tell you at this stage.

It is really important for us to fully understand your experiences of complaining to the Commissioner so we want to make sure we have enough time – the survey may take up to 45 minutes so it is probably better for you if we make an appointment for us to call back.

When would be a suitable day and time for you?
Do you think you need someone to help you with your answers?

Please remember that everything you tell us is confidential and you will not be identified. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to take part if you don’t want to, and you are free to end the survey at any point.

Information about research participants’ confidentiality and privacy

What steps do we take to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the data you provide?

Your privacy is important to us and we take it seriously. There are a number of steps we take to make sure that the information you provide when you answer questions in the study remains private.

There are a number of laws that apply to the collection and use of personal information as part of the study with which the Health Services Commissioner must comply.
The Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee is responsible for approving the study (including any changes) and needs to be satisfied that the study is conducted in a way that protects your privacy, as required by these laws.
The committee pays particular attention to how your personal level data (name and telephone number) and study responses are stored during the study period and how the information collected is stored and used after all the interviews are completed.

The Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee also deals with any concerns that a member of the public may have before or after participating in the study.

If you have a complaint about the conduct of the study you may contact the Secretary of the Human Research Ethics Committee:

Mr Jeffrey Chapman.
Telephone: 03 9096 5239
Email: research.ethics@heatlh.vic.gov.au

Your participation in the study is voluntary. There are no consequences associated with not taking part in the study. You do not have to give a reason for not participating in the study.
If you decide to take part in the study, you can choose not to answer a particular question if you do not wish to do so. You do not have to give a reason for not answering a question.
While data collection for the study is being undertaken by the Social Research Centre (on behalf of the Health Services Commissioner), your responses to survey questions and personal level data are stored in password-protected files.
At the end of the study period, the Social Research Centre is required to de-link your name and telephone number from your survey responses and destroy that information. Only information you have provided to the study questions is kept. This information is added to the information provided by other participants and forwarded to the Commissioner for analysis.

What happens to the data and how is it used?

The information collected from those who participate in the study is used to inform future change or for research purposes. For example, the data will be used to help the Health Services Commissioner improve the operation of the health complaints service provided to the Victorian public. The Commissioner will also be able to provide the final report from the study to the Expert Review Panel undertaking the review of the Health Services (Conciliation and Review) Act 1987 that is currently underway.

The survey involves asking people who have made a complaint to the Health Services Commissioner during the last three years about their experience of the complaints process and what suggestions they have for improvement. Anyone participating in the survey is not asked questions seeking health information.

The main findings from the study will be made available at: http://www.health.vic.gov.au/hsc/ All the results are reported at a summary level only (for example, by age group or by rural/metropolitan residency). No individuals are identified and no individual’s responses are reported.

The Health Services Commissioner is the data custodian for the data from the study. It is the duty of the custodian to ensure that the data are used responsibly and respectfully, and that privacy is safeguarded.

Other government departments, statutory agencies and researchers may request access to the data as an extension of this study or in the same general area of research. Such access to the data is not automatic. It is granted on a case-by-case basis.

Further information

Principal researcher
Health Services Commissioner Complainants Study
Health Services Commissioner
30th Floor, 570 Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: 1800 451 776

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Last updated: 9 October, 2012
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