Feedback and complaints
Making a Complaint About Your Care
If something about your care or our service was not right, we want to hear about it. You can raise it however suits you, and it will not affect the care you receive.
Call(08) 6147 6547
Telling us
How to Raise a Concern With Us
You can tell us about any concern. It might be about your care, getting an appointment, how we spoke with you, fees, how a staff member behaved, or your privacy. Making a complaint will not affect the care you receive here.
Raise it in whichever way suits you:
- In person at reception, 57 Thorpe Street, Rockingham WA 6168
- By phone on (08) 6147 6547 during opening hours
- By email to the Practice Manager at pm@thorpestreethealth.com.au
- By letter to the Practice Manager, Thorpe Street Health, 57 Thorpe Street, Rockingham WA 6168
- On our patient complaint form, which you can ask for at reception
You do not have to fill in a form or put anything in writing. Telling a staff member is enough, and they will write it down for you.
You can ask for a private place to talk, bring a support person, or ask for an interpreter or help filling in the form. You will not be asked to face the person your complaint is about.
A family member, carer or someone else can raise a concern for you. We may need your consent before we share your health information with them.
You can also complain without giving your name. We will still look at it, but without your details we may not be able to look into it fully or reply to you.
If it cannot wait
If Your Concern Is About Your Health Right Now
If your complaint is about a health problem you have now, tell reception straight away so a doctor can look at it. A complaint will never hold up urgent care.
In a medical emergency, call 000.
After you complain
What Happens After You Complain
Krystal Thomas, our Practice Manager, looks after complaints and makes sure each one is followed through. If your complaint is about the Practice Manager, it goes to the practice owner instead. The person your complaint is about will never be the only one looking into it.
Within 2 business days, we aim to acknowledge your complaint if we have your contact details. We give you a reference number, tell you who is looking after it, and say when to expect our response.
We ask how you would like us to contact you, and whether it is all right to leave a voicemail or send an email.
We look into it fairly. That can mean checking your records and talking to the staff involved. A concern about your treatment is reviewed by a qualified clinician who can look at it impartially.
Within 20 business days, we aim to send you a full response. It answers each of your concerns, explains what we found, and sets out anything we are changing.
If it is taking longer, we tell you why and give you a new date. While it is open, we aim to update you at least every 10 business days.
For a complaint about your privacy, we aim to respond within 30 days.
If something went wrong with your care and caused harm, or could have, we will talk openly with you about what happened and say sorry. We will also explain what we are doing to reduce the chance of it happening again. This is called open disclosure.
If you are not happy with our response, you can ask for a review. The practice owner, or another senior person who was not involved, will look at it again. You will never be asked to withdraw a complaint to keep seeing us.
Independent help
Taking Your Complaint Further
If you are not satisfied with how we handled your complaint, you can contact an independent body. Asking us to review our response does not stop you doing this. Each body decides for itself which complaints it can take on.
- The Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO) handles complaints about health services in Western Australia. It can also tell you where to take a concern about a registered health practitioner. It asks you to raise your concern with us first. Call (08) 6551 7600, 9:30am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday. From regional WA, call 1800 813 583, free from landlines. You can also use the online complaint form at hadsco.wa.gov.au.
- For a privacy complaint, contact us first. If we have not sorted it out, or have not replied within 30 days, you can complain in writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). You can lodge it at oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints, or call them on 1300 363 992.
Reviews
Leaving a Public Review
A public review is separate from a complaint. If you want us to look into something, tell reception or contact the Practice Manager. If you would like to review your visit on Google or on the Word of Mouth review site, the links are on our feedback page.