- For patients and visitors
- Rights and responsibilities
Rights and responsibilities
We recognise the role of carers and will collaborate and include you when planning and providing patient care.
As a patient under our care, you have rights and responsibilities which are consistent with the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and are important when partnering with us in your
care.
As a child safe organisation we are committed to ensuring the following rights are maintained and embraced while a child or young person is in our care. View the Children and Young People’s Rights.
Access to health care
You have a right to:
- Access health care services and treatments that meet your needs, including pastoral and spiritual care
- Access your health care record in accordance with our Privacy Policy
You have a responsibility to:
- Attend your appointments, and tell us if you are unable to make an appointment
- Be aware that sometimes your ongoing health care needs may not be able to be provided at the health care facility you first attend
Receiving safe and high quality care
You have a right to:
- Receive competent, timely and professional care that meets your needs
- Be cared for in an environment that is safe and makes you feel safe
You have a responsibility to:
- Provide accurate information about your health and tell us any information that may impact your care (including alternative or complementary therapies)
- Tell caregivers of changes you notice in your medical condition e.g. pain
- Cooperate with your care team so that our caregivers can provide care in a safe environment e.g. work with caregivers when you are being moved
- Observe hospital directives e.g. emergency situations, no smoking, visiting hours and report any safety concerns you may have
Respect, dignity and consideration
You have a right to:
- Care that respects your culture, identity, beliefs, values, disabilities, personal needs and any special requirements
- Have your choices recognised and respected
You have a responsibility to:
- Tell caregivers of circumstances concerning your culture, identity, beliefs and disabilities so they can respond to your needs
- Treat caregivers, patients, volunteers and visitors with respect and dignity
- Recognise and respect the role and dignity of our caregivers and their right to a safe and pleasant environment
- Understand that aggressive, violent or abusive behaviour will not be tolerated
Communication and information
You have a right to:
- Receive open, timely and clear communication and information about your health care
- Be told the names and roles of the caregivers involved in your care
- Advice and assistance, if needed, to help you understand and use health information
- Receive information about services, waiting times and costs relating to your treatment
You have a responsibility to:
- Be as open and honest as you can, and ask for more information if you do not understand
- Inform caregivers if English is not your first language so you can be given access to an interpreter in person or by the telephone
- Contact your health fund before being admitted to hospital to check your level of health fund cover and be aware of any associated restrictions
Partnership in decisions and choices about care
You have a right to:
- Take part in making decisions and choices about your care and health service planning
- Seek a second medical opinion and query additional costs involved
- Include the people you want in planning and decision-making
You have a responsibility to:
- Ask questions so you can be informed about your medical condition and your care options before giving your consent to any treatment
- Discuss your concerns and decisions with your caregivers, for example, if you do not wish to continue treatment, are unable to comply with treatment, or want to discharge yourself against medical advice. Once you are aware of the implications, you accept responsibility for the consequences of your decisions.
- Provide a copy of advanced health directives, enduring power of attorney or other legal documents which may be relevant to your care
- Participate in your care planning
- Be aware of your private health fund cover and associated restrictions and costs
Privacy and confidentiality of personal information
You have a right to:
- Personal privacy, and your personal information being kept secure and confidential
You have a responsibility to:
- Accept that your health information may be shared with appropriate health care providers
- Ask that your recorded health information be corrected if it is inaccurate
- Respect the privacy and confidentiality of others
- More information about privacy is available online
Commenting about your care
You have a right to:
- Share your experience and participate to improve quality of care and health services
- Comment on care and have your concerns addressed in a transparent and timely way - you can provide feedback or make a complaint online
- Voice a concern if you are not satisfied with any aspect of care
- Know that voicing a concern will not negatively affect your care or hospital stay
You have a responsibility to:
- Provide verbal or written comments, complaints or commendations
- Advise your caregivers of any concerns about any aspect of your care or treatment
Charter of Healthcare Rights and Responsibilities in auslan, written for the cognitively impaired and CALD versions.
- Auslan
- Video charter
- Translation
- Easy English PDF
- My Healthcare Rights: A guide for people with cognitive impairment
Children and Young People’s Rights
The Charter on the Rights of Children and Young People in Healthcare Services in Australia provides a framework to help empower children and young people to know about their rights and guidance for the staff caring for them.
Every child and young person has the right:
- to consideration of their best interests as the primary concern of all involved in his or her care
- to express their views, and to be heard and taken seriously
- to the highest attainable standard of healthcare
- to respect for themselves as a whole person, as well as respect for their family and the family’s individual characteristics, beliefs, culture and context
- to be nurtured by their parents and family, and to have family relationships supported by the service in which the child or young person is receiving healthcare
- to information, in a form that is understandable to them
- to participate in decision-making and, as appropriate to their capabilities, to make decisions about their care
- to be kept safe from all forms of harm
- to have their privacy respected
- to participate in education, play, creative activities and recreation, even if this is difficult due to their illness or disability
- to continuity of healthcare, including well-planned care that takes them beyond the paediatric context
Open disclosure
Our Open Disclosure Process document provides guidance to caregivers on how to communicate openly with patients/clients and their carers/family when an incident results in harm to that patient/client, whilst receiving health care.
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