Abstract
DEAR SIR
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised by your correspondent regarding her experience of the College's complaints handling process.
We take this opportunity to publicly extend our apologies to the Fellow concerned for the way in which this particular matter was handled. We certainly agree that confidentiality and timeliness are essential elements of any complaints handling mechanism and we sincerely regret the fact that the College response to this matter was sadly lacking on both counts.
As some Fellows may already be aware, the College complaints handling processes have been under review in recent months and this review is now nearing completion. We feel confident that the outcomes of this review will serve to ensure that the experience of your correspondent as the subject of a complaint will not be repeated.
The review came about as a result of the decision by General Council that the College act as a ‘conduit’ in complaint matters rather than as an investigatory body — as we have operated in the past. Complaints received by the College are now being immediately referred to the statutory bodies (ie medical boards and health care complaints agencies) with the resources to appropriately investigate complaints and the power to make legal determinations.
A further outcome of the review that has already been enacted is the creation within the Secretariat of the position, Consumer Relations and Complaints Officer. As Fellows will read in this issue of AP, we are very pleased to welcome Mr Allen White to this role. Allen comes to the College after five years working in complaints management for the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria. Allen will be working closely with our new Director, Policy/External Affairs, Dr Kay Stevens, and the College Board of Practice Standards to formalise College policy in this area.
We will be advising Fellows, Affiliates and Trainees of the changes to College policy arising from the review in upcoming issues of AP and via the College website.