The final Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) performance report for the year shows sustained improvement in protecting the health and safety of the Queensland public.

Health Ombudsman Leon Atkinson-MacEwen said the recent data reinforces the achievements of the previous quarter and demonstrates the office’s continued growth.

“As the singular body responsible for receiving health service complaints in Queensland, the OHO is constantly evolving to serve the best interests of the public and operate within a system of trust, transparency and accountability,” Mr Atkinson-MacEwen said.

“In its third year of operation, the office has continued to mature as an agency and has seen strong performance in meeting legislative timeframes.

“The results for assessments completed, local resolutions finalised and decisions made within legislative timeframes all reflect improvement over or parity with the Q3 results, which were in and of themselves a significant achievement over the first half of the year.”

The OHO received a total of 1494 complaints between April and June, most of which related to professional performance (42%), followed by complaints about communication (13%), medication (11%) and professional conduct (10%).

Mr Atkinson-MacEwen noted that this figure brought the total number of contacts for 2016–17 in excess of 10,000.

“This further demonstrates the value of the office’s work and its increased profile with Queensland health consumers and service providers,” he said.

For more information or to view the Q4 performance report in full, visit www.oho.qld.gov.au.

—ENDS

Media enquiries:
media@oho.qld.gov.au.

0427 483 656