What happens after I make a complaint to the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC)?

Once the Health Complaints Commissioner gets your complaint, they will review it and consider the best way to deal with it. Usually they will contact you to talk about your complaint, figure out what the main issues are and explain their process. They might ask for documents from you or the prison.

If the HCC cannot help you, they will let you know and explain why. If there are other options available for your complaint, they will tell you about them.

If the HCC can help you, the actions they might take depend on what your complaint is about and the participation of the prison. The HCC cannot force the prison to do anything.

The actions the HCC might take to try and resolve the complaint include:

• Phone calls with you or the prison
• Written communications like letters or emails with you or the prison
• Conciliation conference (scroll down for more information on what a conciliation conference is)

What is a conciliation conference?

Conciliation is a negotiation process where an impartial person (meaning they don’t take sides) from the HCC works with both you and the prison to hear both sides and try to come up with solutions. Conciliation is voluntary, so both you and the prison have to consent to doing it.

The HCC cannot make any findings or rulings like a court, or discipline the prison. They can only encourage both sides to listen to each other’s sides and help come up with solutions.

If an agreement can be reached between you and the prison, the HCC will put together a written agreement. It will usually include a condition that you cannot take any further legal action about the issue.

How long will it take for HCC to resolve my complaint?

The time it will take to resolve your complaint will depend on the details of your complaint and the participation of the prison.

Some straightforward complaints can be resolved over a few phone calls, which may only take a day or two.

More complex cases could take several months. The HCC will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint and the time it will take.

Possible outcomes

Some of the outcomes from HCC’s involvement in your complaint could be:

• The prison healthcare service acknowledging your experience
• The prison healthcare service giving answers or explanations about what happened
• The prison healthcare service apologising to you
• The prison healthcare service taking action about the issue – this could be action related to your individual case, or changes to their service in general to make it better for everyone

If you are not able to come to an agreement with the prison, the HCC will either:

• Close your complaint and take no further action; or
• Start their own investigation into the complaint.

Important: even if the prison does not participate in negotiation or conciliation/mediation, a complaint to the HCC can lead to feedback for the prison. This could lead to changes being made so that what happened to you doesn’t happen to other people in prison.

Source: Health Complaints Commissioner website