Knowing your rights as a health consumer

What can you expect from a health service?

When you visit your local doctor, counsellor or any other health service there are certain things you have a right to expect.

Some of these include:

• Being able to see qualified health professional and receive good care.
• To be treated with dignity and respect.
• Your health and personal details to be kept confidential. In some cases, the law makes the health professional tell your information to another person or authority. If you are worried about how much you should tell your health practitioner, then ask what their obligations are. Check out the fact sheet on Confidentiality for more information.
• Services that are free of physical and mental abuse, bullying, harassment, and discrimination on the grounds of age, gender, race, family status, sexual orientation or disability.
• Services that take into account cultural, religious, social and ethnic needs, values and beliefs.
• If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident in Australia you are able to receive free emergency treatment at public hospital emergency departments.

You also have a right to:

• Bring a friend or family member with you when you are seeing a doctor or other health professional.
• Information on where health services and treatment are available. Your local doctor or community health centre should be able to help you with information about where health services are located. You may also want to check out the beyondblue Directory of Medical and Allied Health Practitioners.

If you feel that any of these rights have been denied, you can:

• Talk to your health professional about your concerns.
• Make a complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission in your State.
• Check out the info below for more information about how you complain; and, or
• Look for another health service provider.

Your right to lodge a complaint

You can lodge a complaint if you feel that your rights have been denied or you have received poor care. No one should try and stop you from airing your concerns.

As a first step it is a good idea to raise your concern with the health care provider. This may be scary and you don't have to do it alone. There are people who can help you. These include:

Patient representative

Some hospitals have a Patient Representative. This is a good place to start if your issue is with the hospital. Ask your hospital if they have one.

Health care complaints commission

These are state based commissions that have people available to help you manage your concerns. The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has Patient Support Officers. They can give you advice and assistance to help you resolve your concerns. Check out the more information section for contact details for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission and the other commissions around Australia.

Friends or family member

A friend, family member or other support person such as a youth worker who can help you.

Treatment

If you are receiving treatment then your health care provider should talk to you about the treatments available and any risks that may be involved. Before deciding on treatment it is a good idea to make sure that you understand the information that has been given to you.

If you are having difficulty understanding the info it may help to bring along someone you trust. This may be a family member or friend. Asking your doctor or person you are seeing lots of questions may also help you to understand what they are saying. It is also a good idea to ask for information to take away with you or websites that you can get more information from.

All the info you receive about your health care should be given to you in a language and way you can understand. Sometimes it may be helpful to use pictures, models or written summaries to get the info across. Ask if you don't understand something - it's important.

Giving consent

Making a considered decision about your treatment having all the information you require is called giving 'informed consent'.

Generally, medical treatment or care should not be given to you unless you give "informed consent". If you are under 14 years of age - a parent or guardian maybe required to give consent. After this age you may seek treatment and give consent on your own behalf. It may be that you also make decisions jointly with your parents.

You have the right to be involved in decisions about your health and you should be informed and allowed to make choices. If you wish, your parents may stay with you during consultations, minor procedures and when in hospital, unless there is some medical or legal reason to stop this. If this is the case the reasons should be discussed with you.

It may take time to think over major decisions and can sometimes be helpful to talk to friends and family. If you are not sure what to do, it may be a good idea to have further talks with your health provider or to get a second opinion.