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DISCLAIMER
The following stories have been provided to illustrate mental health service complaint
issues from the point of view of consumers. Some details may have been omitted to protect
the privacy of consumers, carers and service providers involved. One of our roles is to
share the lessons learned from our work to drive improvement. In sharing these stories,
we aim to maximise the mental health system's ability to learn from the experience of health
and disability consumers and providers. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy
and completeness of these stories, they cannot fully detail all of the information about
a case.
The Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO) offers an impartial resolution
service for complaints relating to health and disability services in Western Australia
and the Indian Ocean Territories.
This service is free and available to all users and providers of health and disability
services. Acting independently and in confidence, the Office works with both consumers and providers
to review and report on the causes of complaints, suggest service improvements and educate service
providers on effective complaint resolution.
Underpinning all the work of the Office is the vision of empowering users and providers
to collaboratively improve health and disability services.
In November 2013, the Office hosted a forum for mental health consumers, carers and family
members to better understand the challenges and lived experiences in making complaints
about mental health services.
These stories have helped to shape the report and the recommendations contained within it,
with the aim of collaboratively working with key agencies in the sector to improve the
handling of mental health service complaints.
These are the voices of consumers...
CASE STUDY P
My son had a mental illness and I was his carer. I desperately wanted to help but he
ended up in hospital. Hospital wasn't what either of us thought it would be.
We were both left confused, upset and feeling totally powerless about his experience of
involuntary detention.
As his carer, I took responsibility for making a complaint.
I spent a lot of time, effort and thought on my complaint letter hoping it would highlight
the difficulties we had experienced and direct some attention to the areas that we thought
needed improvement.
I wrote a long letter outlining my son's experience and asking some specific questions about what
we saw as failures in the system.
In response, I received an equally long letter - basically recounting my version of events.
And in the final page, referring me elsewhere with my grievance, totally ignoring the questions
I'd asked.
Confronted with this response, I felt totally helpless.
Clear communication is critical in the effective resolution of complaints. HaDSCO has recommended
that mental health service providers and bodies dealing with complaints review external publications
& correspondence and ensure that they are clear, accessible, easily understood and devoid
of jargon, as outlined in the Australian Standards for Customer Satisfaction - Guidelines for
Complaint Handling.
A human response -- in clear, simple words... that's all I wanted.
Case Study S
I raised a complaint with my mental health service provider. Other consumers had approached
me about their concerns to changes in the service, but no one was prepared to speak up.
"What's the point?" one friend asked, "It's not like they're going to listen!"
I wasn't prepared to let changes happen in the service, making me and my friends miserable,
without speaking up about it. I mean it's not like we'd been consulted about the changes.
I made a complaint to management and all I received in response was some vague answer
which didn't even actually address the complaint.
They were very clear on another point though -- that no further dialogue would be entered
into on the issue.
I felt fobbed off and dismissed, disempowered by the lack of consultation and their refusal
to even discuss the changes to my service... just so disrespectful.
Respect is a fundamental aspect of appropriate complaints handling. HaDSCO recommends that
mental health service providers and bodies dealing with complaints ensure training is
made available to staff regarding the Charter of Mental Health Care Principles (Principle
1) and the United Nations Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness
and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care (Principle 2) -- both of which enshrine the
rights of persons diagnosed with a mental illness to be treated with compassion, dignity
& respect.
I'm just grateful that I do have a voice and that I can raise it to try and help those
other consumers who can't or won't make a complaint.
Case Study M
I have been in and out of hospital for the last 6 years now as a voluntary patient. On
my last admission to the hospital I saw a new psychiatrist.
I didn't see her for long, but in the space of that short consultation she changed my
diagnosis and my medication.
I told her that I didn't like the new medication -- that it was making me violently ill.
I raised my issue, but I felt dismissed, my views disregarded. I was worried about being
made involuntary if I didn't comply with the psychiatrist's new medication plan. And besides,
I was so focussed on my recovery and dealing with the side-effects of that horrible medication,
I didn't have the energy to pursue a complaint.
I haven't raised a complaint, even since my last discharge because I'm still going to
the same service.
Even though I'm treated under a different psychiatrist now, I worry that if I raise
my experience with them, they'll change my current treatment or say I'm unwell and make
me involuntary.
And worse still, is the worry that I won't be believed in raising my complaint because
I was unwell at the time.
A collaborative approach of key agencies in the sector will ensure that consumers are
supported in accessing impartial & independent complaint resolution services. HaDSCO recommends
key agencies, including mental health advocates, collaborate in defining each body's roles
& responsibilities and aim to develop memoranda of understanding to support a cohesive mental
health service complaints system.
In particular, cooperation between mental health advocates and HaDSCO will need to be
explored to ensure timely & supported access for consumers in raising complaints.
I don't want someone to have the same experience as I had, but I also don't want to have any
problems with my mental health service by making a formal complaint.