Valid Reasons to contact the Health Services Commissioner for neglecting duty of care

[opi8]

Hypothetical situation.

Someone with a known history of depression goes to see a doctor. Doctor treat patient like shit and makes patient leave crying. What kind of cases are heard by the Health Services Commissioner.

Does judging one for their addiction count? Making assumptions about one's situation? Generally treating a patient like shit with full knowledge that the patient suffers from depression, obviously you don't kick a person when they're down because you and I have some kind of moral compass which prevents us from being total fuckwits. What about when a doctor does it? What if that leads to suicide, is the doctor responsible?

 

[AFA]

Some docs are nieve pieces of shit. I cant answer your question unfortunately but surely it is agaisnt somesort of patient treatment policy.

Should get a spypen with a camera and have it in your shirt pocket and send the video to health services commission and or cut up the video and poat to youtube a few months later, publicly shame the cunt for having zero compassion

 

[spacejunk]

Does this hypothetical person's state of residence have a "substance users' association" (like we have in WA) or similar?
If so, it would be worth asking them for advice, in my opinion.
There are codes of ethics and conduct that health professionals must abide to; as disempowering as it feels to be discriminated against, you have the right to be treated with a certain amount of compassion and respect.

Even if no action is taken, some complaints are worth documenting for the sake of future instances involving the dr in question.

A users' advocacy group would probably be the most informed people to seek advice from and they understand that such things do take place.

That not all drug users are "crazy" - and even if a person has a history of mental health issues, they are still entitled to be treated with dignity and professionalism.

There must surely be official channels to pursue - but you'd want to approach the right ones from the right angle or it could (potentially) make things worse.

^ I'm not sure that secretly filming or making an audio recording would be legal.

 

[spacejunk]

As long as you are involved in the conversation spacejunk it is legal to record it. Even if someone asks am I being recorded and you say no, it still remains legal, in my state anyway.

Really? Do you have a source for that?
Surely...um, it depends if you're LE or not, right???
Like that (false) myth that undercover cops have to tell you that they're police officers if you ask them? Cops have more of a legal right to be dishonest/lie than the average citizen.
I'm not a lawyer, but I've certainly been advised not to secretly record people (that have a history of lying) in private meetings.
I think in a doctor's surgery there may be legal issues surrounding privacy that are not the same as in a public place, for example. This is certainly the case for filming people...but I'm not too well informed on the intricacies of such legal matters - I just get the impression it's not as simple as that.
I daresay it's not a good look if you are trying to make a good impression.

By that, I mean; for some reason there are people that think folks with a history of drug use are paranoid and perhaps irrational or untrustworthy.
The sort of people that judge and condemn people with a history of drug use.
I don't think this is true, but I don't think going around wearing a hidden recording device is a particularly good way of disproving such notions.

 

[spacejunk]

^ top post.

You make some very good points; I especially agree that good doctors are out there, and that sticking your neck out to make a complaint may be more stressful and traumatic than it is worth - especially if the patient is already having a tough time of it.

But as this is all hypothetical (meaning none of us [besides the OP] really know the full story here) there are only generalities to go on.
Try to get past small-mindedness and do what you feel is right

 

[opi8]

Thanks for the replies. I would hate for this hypothetical situation to happen to anyone here, even those who may vehemently disagree with my idea of what life is about. It's such a cruel world for many already without the need to people in positions of power to make the suffering suffer even more.

 

[laugh]

Health Ombudsmen

VICTORIA
Office of the Health Services Commissioner Freecall™ 1800 136 066

NEW SOUTH WALES
Health Care Complaints Commission Freecall™ 1800 043 159 (within NSW)

QUEENSLAND
Health Rights Commission Freecall™ 1800 077 308 (within Queensland excluding Brisbane)Brisbane 07 3234 0272)

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The SA Ombudsman Tollfree 1800 182 150

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Office of Health Review Freecall™ 1800 813 583 (within WA)

TASMANIA
Health Complaints Commissioner Tollfree™ 1800 001 170 (within Tasmania)

ACT
ACT Community and Health Services Complaints Commissioner Telephone (02) 6205 2222

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Commissioner for Health & Community Services Complaints Freecall™ 1800 806 380

 

[opi8]

Thanks laugh, that's a great resource for all who find this thread.

 

[catching fish]

I wouldn't think you would be allowed to record if it were a private practice, although I am not a lawyer. But I'm sorry that your friend had that experience. Some GPs are just so out of touch with reality when it comes to mental illness and substance abuse (which occasionally comes in handy). I guess all they can do is just see someone else next time and hope for the best.

My advice is that when it comes to mental health, the only reason to see a GP is to get a referal to a specialist.