In March 2012, a former Medical Board of Queensland investigator turned whistle-blower, reported to the Crime and Misconduct Commission serious allegations of widespread medical malpractice being covered up in Queensland. Her allegations prompted three investigations which led to a number of recommendations. The Queensland Minister for Health, Mr Lawrence Springborg, subsequently announced dramatic changes to the administration of health complaints in Queensland. On 20 August 2013 the Health Ombudsman Act (the Act) was passed into law in Queensland. The Act has been proclaimed and all provisions will commence on 1 July 2014. Mr Leon Atkinson-MacEwen has been appointed Queensland Health Ombudsman and a newly appointed Medical Board has been announced. The Board will be headed by Associate Professor Susan Young from the University of Queensland School of Nursing and Midwifery. The Act represents significant change to the regulation of health professionals and their services in Queensland. The changes will present challenges for practitioners when a complaint is made against them. This is particularly the case in the absence of a formal complaint by a patient or fellow practitioner. There will be considerable pressure on the Health Ombudsman and Director of Proceedings to resolve matters within a very short period of time. According to the Minister for Health “the tighter timeframes for complaints assessment, investigation and completion under the Act will give Queenslanders a more rigorous, accountable health complaints system, which will be the single point of lodgement for health complaints in Queensland.” One imagines the Minister for Health will be anxious to demonstrate that the changes have successfully ensured Queenslanders access health services in a safer, more accountable manner. The emphasis is likely to be on the consumers of health services in Queensland, rather than the practitioners. The concern is that “improvements” in the complaints handling process are not achieved at the expense of practitioners being afforded due process and natural justice. Only time will tell whether the Act achieves a balance between these competing interests. Read More…