The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) is pleased to announce that on 22 July 2008, Australian Health Ministers endorsed the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and its use as the pre-eminent healthcare charter for Australia.
A media release on the Commission’s Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and a pdf downloadable version are now available.
The Charter, developed after wide consultation, specifies the key rights of patients and consumers when seeking and receiving healthcare services. These are Access, Safety, Respect, Communication, Participation, Privacy and Comment.
The purpose of the Charter is to provide information about the rights of patients and consumers to underpin the provision of safe and high quality care, and to support a shared understanding of the rights of people receiving care.
The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (PDF 45 KB) is now publicly available for download.
The Commission has also developed additional resource material for patients, consumers, families and carers and healthcare providers and facilities to support the use of the Charter and are available for download in pdf format.
Roles in Realising the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (PDF 86 KB)
This document is designed to provide a simple explanation of each right included in the Charter and provide information about how patients and consumers, health care providers and health service organisations can contribute to the realisation of patients’ rights.
About the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights: A guide for patients, consumers, carers and families (PDF 466 KB)
This brochure discusses each of the seven Charter rights and provides some guidance to patients, consumers, carers and families on ways they can contribute to ensuring that the rights are upheld.
About the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights: A guide for healthcare providers (PDF 492 KB)
This brochure discusses each of the seven Charter rights, and provides some guidance to healthcare providers about ways they can contribute to ensuring that the rights are upheld.
Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights A3 poster (PDF 1781 KB)
Consultation Process
The Commission has undertaken an extensive consultation process with health sector, government and health consumer interest groups to aid the development of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights.As part of this process, a consultation paper on a draft National Patient Charter of Rights (PDF 75 KB) was released for broad consultation in January 2008. The paper provided background information regarding the development of the patient charter and discussed how a charter might be used. Over 500 hard copies of the paper were provided to stakeholders with an invitation to provide a written submission. Copies were also made available on the Commission’s website with information about the consultation process and an invitation to make a submission.
Comment from consumers, patients, families and carers, health care organisations, peak professional bodies, community groups and consumer organisations were specifically encouraged to ensure that the National Charter reflects the aspirations of all involved stakeholders.
Over ninety written submissions were received in response to the Commission’s invitation to provide comment. A list of organisations and individuals and corresponding submissions is available on the Draft National Patient Charter of Rights – Stakeholder Submissions 1 to 50 and Draft National Patient Charter of Rights – Stakeholder Submissions 51 to 96 web pages.
The comments and views expressed in submissions were considered by a multi-disciplinary Reference Group (PDF 25 KB) established to advise on the Charter, and taken into account in developing the final Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. The feedback received during the consultation process has been summarised in the National Patient Charter of Rights Consultation Report (PDF 222 KB).
The Commission has also prepared Summary Paper - A Comparison of Patient Charters in Australia (PDF 220 KB), that provides background information about patient charters in Australia.
Contact
Dr Nicola Dunbar, Program Manager
(02) 9263 3633
Email: mail@safetyandquality.gov.au
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