We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and pay our respects to all Elders past and present, and to the children of today who are the Elders of the future.
Artist: Jasmine Sarin, a proud Kamilaroi and Jerrinja woman.
When you use a health service, you should be treated fairly, kept informed and listened to. If something doesn’t feel right or a decision seems unfair or unclear, it’s okay to speak up.
Complaints help health services understand problems, fix mistakes and make things better for everyone.
You can contact us to complain if you feel you have been treated unfairly by a NSW public health service.
We can help you to understand your options and look at concerns about how the NSW public health services make decisions and handle complaints.
We look at issues like delays, unclear decisions, poor communication and problems with how complaints are managed.
In some cases, we may take further action such as making inquiries or referrals, conciliating or taking other action to resolve a complaint.
We do not look at complaints about clinical care or practitioner conduct. This is the role of other health regulators:
The HCCC is an independent Commission that has broad discretion in the actions and decisions it makes to handle complaints, in consultation with relevant professional councils.
We can look at complaints about the regulator’s administrative processes. Examples may include where there is delay or if the reason for a regulator’s decision is unclear.
We do not undertake merits review of clinical and conduct decisions. This means we do not re-examine the detail of inquiries they made, or the evidence they considered, as it is not our role to assess whether the decision was the preferable one to have made.
However, we may look at whether there were issues in the administrative process leading up to the decision (for example, was the process procedurally fair and consistent with legislative responsibilities).
We look at problems with how decisions are made, how complaints are managed, and whether the health service followed fair and proper processes.
Examples of issues you can contact us about include:
We usually ask people to raise their concerns directly with the service before coming to us.
Many issues can be resolved by raising your concern with:
However, you can contact us directly if:
It helps if you can tell us:
You don’t need to write a long or formal complaint – your own words are enough.
You can make a complaint for a family member, patient, friend, or someone you care for.
If possible, talk to them first. Usually, we require a consent form.
If the person cannot speak for themselves, we will look at the situation and decide what action may be appropriate.
Health staff sometimes contact us about issues that may affect safe or fair care, such as:
You can raise these issues with us.
Your concern may be a public interest disclosure (PID). We can help to explain your rights and options.
Learn more about PIDs and our Whistleblower Support Line here.
There are several ways you can contact us.
Visit our contact page.
These organisations may be able to help if your issue is not something we can look at.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and pay our respects to all Elders past and present, and to the children of today who are the Elders of the future.
Artist: Jasmine Sarin, a proud Kamilaroi and Jerrinja woman.