Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Our principles for dealing with complaints about Ahpra
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Our principles for dealing with complaints about Ahpra

 

Our principles for dealing with complaints about AHPRA

  • Information about our complaints policy and how to make a complaint is available publically and is easy to find.
  • People are provided with a range of contact options to make a complaint.
  • People are assisted to make a complaint when assistance is needed.
  • We recognise that some people have particular needs or vulnerabilities and provide a complaint service that accommodates the requirements of all people.
  • We communicate with people in a way that suits the person.
  • We encourage people to give us their feedback about our decisions, policies, procedures and service.
  • We understand and acknowledge that the issue raised is important to the person making a complaint.
  • We talk to the person raising the concern
  • We demonstrate that we have understood the concerns raised.
  • We ask how people would like their concern to be resolved.
  • In our response we acknowledge and consider a person’s feelings as valid and important.
  • We have systems in place that identify how complaints are assessed, allocated and escalated when appropriate.
  • We adhere to all required complaints management time frames and when this isn’t possible we contact to people to let them know a revised time frame and provide an explanation for the delay.
  • Our staff are empowered to resolve complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible.
  • We acknowledge that methods for dealing with complaints will differ depending on the circumstances and allow flexibility to resolve a complaint in a way that is appropriate in the circumstances.
  • We talk to people about what is and isn’t possible during the complaints management process and explain why.
  • In our acknowledgement we tell people what to expect and when, while Ahpra investigates their complaint.
  • We provide a full explanation to people of the reasons for our decision regarding their complaint.
  • During the complaints process we review what information we have previously provided to determine if there is any further information we could provide to a person to better help them understand our decision, processes or policies.
  • We are open about our processes and our management of a matter and seek to demonstrate how we act in the public interest when we respond to a complaint.
  • We have an open, constructive and responsive relationship with the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
  • Concerns raised to us are dealt with in a spirit of resolution rather than defensiveness.
  • We offer an explanation and an apology when a mistake is made.
  • We offer to people that their complaint can be dealt with by an independent officer.
  • Our staff are impartial in their management of all concerns raised about Ahpra and National Boards.
  • People are advised of their options to escalate their complaint if they remain concerned and assistance to do so if this is needed.
  • Our staff are offered an opportunity to respond to any allegation made about them personally and consistent with our policies and procedures.
  • We have well established procedures to identify and report issues about our service delivery, policies and procedures during the management of a complaint.
  • We regularly review data captured from the complaints process to identify thematic issues.
  • We ensure that any identified problems with our systems or service delivery are followed up and required changes are implemented.
  • We encourage learning from complaints to improve our services.
  • Our complaint management framework is appropriately resourced and staff are given training and support to effectively manage complaints.
  • We identify, measure and report on Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to ensure that we are providing a quality service.
  • We report publically on our complaints handling performance in our annual report and other documents as appropriate.
  • We undertake a quality review of our Complaints Management Framework at least every 12 months so that we can evaluate our performance.
  • Our Complaints Management Framework is reviewed every two (2) years to ensure that it is still fit for purpose.
 
 
 
Page reviewed 24/10/2022