Damning reports pave the way for new Health Ombudsman

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has announced dramatic changes to the administration of health complaints in Queensland, following the tabling of two damning reports in Parliament today.

Mr Springborg said a three-member panel found that 363 of 596 files it examined (about 60 per cent) were not handled in a manner that was timely and/or appropriate and/or in compliance with legislative objectives.

The panel, headed by a former assistant commissioner of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission, Dr Kim Forrester, reported that in one case it took 2,368 days, or nearly 6 1/2 years for the responsible agencies to reach a final decision.

Mr Springborg told Parliament that new legislation to create a Queensland Health Ombudsman as the lynchpin of a new and accountable complaints reporting system would be introduced before July.

The Forrester Report was tabled alongside the findings of a senior legal practitioner, Mr Jeffrey Hunter, who recommended that police consider criminal charges against six medical practitioners.

“These reports paint a deeply disturbing picture of dis-functionality in the handling of health-related complaints,” Mr Springborg said.

“In a majority of cases, delays meant that doctors, who potentially posed a risk of harm to the public, continued to practice without their competency being assessed and in the absence of safeguards, supervision or monitoring.

“In relation to the appropriateness of decisions, the Forrester Panel found clear evidence that processes followed by AHPRA and the Medical Board did not provide adequate protection for the public.”

Mr Springborg said complementary legislation to create a national regulatory scheme for health professions across Australia supplanted state-based arrangements in 2009.

“Today, the responsible agencies are the Medical Board of Australia and its Queensland Board, supported by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA),” Mr Springborg said.

“There is much to gain from a uniform national approach to credentialing and registration. But it has to be underpinned by an effective and accountable complaints referral, handling and investigation system.”

Mr Springborg thanked Mr Hunter, Dr Forrester and her fellow panel members, the director of Medical Services at Greenslopes Private Hospital, Adjunct Professor James Houston, and the Inaugural chair of the Queensland Nursing Council, Professor Elizabeth Davies.

He said work on the two reviews was delayed when AHPRA and the Medical Board initially declined to release the relevant files due to confidentiality and privacy concerns.

“I will discuss the ramifications of these findings with my fellow State Health Ministers and the Commonwealth Minister,” Mr Springborg said.

[ENDS] 16 April 2013

Contact: Cameron Thompson 0407 585 230

Attached: Forrester Report.