Making a complaint?

There is so much I could complain about…..why do you think they take extensive notes? It’s not just about helping you progress it’s about covering their ars es.

Hi Bow,

I recently lodged a complaint with the Victorian Mental Health Complaints Commissioner (MHCC) over an incident that took place several weeks ago involving a Victorian government mental health department. I believe that they acted in a way that was illegal and unethical.

Making the complaint was the easy part. It was just a matter of downloading and filing out the form and attaching a word doc file with details of my complaint.

The biggest difficulty, apart from dealing with the original trauma of the incident itself, were the concerns about whether or not to make a complaint and how much to say. The situation was not made any easier by a number of well meaning friends who tried to dissuade me from making the complaint because they were concerned about possible repercussions.

My experiences over many years is that people in Australia with mental illness and particularly severe mental illnesses have little or no rights and are often treated abominably by the authorities. This, at least for me, has created a considerable amount of apprehension around making this complaint. Also, because of my particular problems (schizophrenia), the last thing I really want to do is finish up in a court of law trying to give evidence. All in all it has been an incredibly stressful experience.

Apart from an automatic response to my online submission, I have not as yet heard anything from the MHCC.

Regards

Willy

I made a complaint to different institution just recently and I felt it went pretty well. In my case, it didn't directly change my own results too much, but, I was mainly making sure they had the data of my experience to help influence the future.

I was going to ask, how much the case manager and psych were recommending the complaint. Thinking about it though, despite the seriousness or the subjectivity it makes sense to be heard if it's something that matters to you.

I think it’s good to make a complaint if you need to - just keep in mind to state the facts of the incident without your interpretation of it. That’s where they catch you . Of course people without a diagnosis can say anything but not us .

Hi @Bow,

I am really sorry to hear you had a negative experience in a mental health service, and think it's great you are reaching out for support about making complaints.

In a previous role as a peer support worker/advocate, my role was to support and empower people to understand and apply their rights in a mental health service, and to make complaints as needed. I thought I might share some ideas and resources here to help you if you do decide to make a complaint.

1. Where to make a complaint

There are a few different places you can make a complaint depending on the State you live in. You can make a formal complaint directly to the health service themselves (public health often have patient experience officers or similar in each LHN/LHD that you can talk to to make a complaint, or official channels such as a form, letter or email).

You can also make a complaint to an organisation such as Official Visitors Program (NSW - for designated mental health facilities), Mental Health Complaints Commission (VIC), or you can search the complaints organisation or body for your state.

2. Where to get support to make a complaint

It can feel daunting to make a complaint, and there are services to help you talk it through or write your complaint. One example are Mental Health Advocacy Services through legal aid (see health direct for a full list). There are a lot out there!

You may also want to write it with the support of your case manager or doctor.

3. You have rights!
When you are accessing any health service, you have rights, and in a mental health service (especially public mental health) these rights are so important for us to know so we can ensure we are being treated with respect and dignity. I would highly recommend having a look at the Australian charter of health care rights, and your rights in the state you are in to back your complaint. You can find these by searching your rights under your state's mental health act.

Another thing to know is that, according to your rights, the health service you are making a complaint about cannot treat you differently as a result of that complaint should you still be accessing the service- you still have a right to access safe, respectful, recovery focussed safe free from discrimination, prejudice.

We are here to support you to every step of the way!

Thank you @Daisydreamer @perspective @wellwellwellnez @Willy @ArraDreaming for all your input.

it’s not really a mental health complaint, while I do have diagnosed mental health conditions, this was a matter of my medical stability that was disregarded, twice.

perhaps I will write something down and discuss it further with my case manager next week.

again, many thanks