Understanding our rights when accessing health services and navigating complaints processes plays an essential part in ensuring we have safe and accessible healthcare in our state.
 
We have learned through our work with consumers and through the lived experience of Tasmanians how important, not only robust health complaints management systems are, but also for health consumers to have access to the information they need about what their rights are and how to navigate complaints processes.  This has been especially evident through the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings and also through understanding the lived experience of people that experience access inequity to health services, such as people with disability and people who require an interpreter.
 
HCT has been successful in its application for a Healthy Focus grant through Healthy Tasmania to undertake a healthcare rights and complaints project, aimed at co-designing sustainable solutions to increase access to information about healthcare rights and complaints.  This work is occurring collaboratively between HCT, health consumers, Ahpra, the Office of the Health Complaints Commissioner, the Department of Health, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, and key community organisations, such as the Migrant Resource Centre.  The project will be led by consumers working collaboratively with these stakeholders to find innovative ways of making this information more accessible to communities across Tasmania.
 
We have been grateful for the collaborative work that we have been able to do over the last number of years with health consumers, the Migrant Resource Centre, neighourhood houses, Ahpra and the Office of the Health Complaints Commissioner to support consumers in understanding their rights and complaints processes.  We are excited about the opportunity to extend this work with Tasmanian health consumers and seeing what outcomes the extension of this collaboration may bring.
 
Our amazing Advocacy and Impact Lead, Hannah Fielder, will be overseeing this project and will be working closely with consumers over the duration.  Please keep an eye out over the next few weeks for details of how you might be able to get involved in our Consumer Oversight Group for this project.
 
Thank you to Healthy Tasmania and the Department of Health for the support of this work through this grant.