Rights & Responsibilities

Rights and Responsibilities – English version

For other languages [click here]

We welcome you to Southern Health.

Southern Health provides a wide range of hospital, rehabilitation and community-based services.

Our health care services are provided in partnership with staff and consumers working together to achieve optimal care. Your health care team includes doctors, nurses and allied health staff.

As a consumer of health care services, you need to know what to expect from Southern Health, its services and staff. It is also important for you to understand what your responsibilities are when receiving these services.

This brochure outlines your rights and responsibilities as a consumer of health care services at Southern Health.

For more details about the services provided by the facility you are attending, please ask a member of your health care team.

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Your Rights:

As part of your health care you can expect the following:

Standards of Care

to receive high quality, appropriate health care
to participate in decisions regarding your health care
to have access to language services and professional medical interpreters when language and communication is a difficulty for you and/or your health care team
to receive suitable alternative care if an offer of care or treatment is refused by you or a member of your health care team
to receive prompt responses to questions or concerns you raise about your health care
to have access to the wide range of services available through Southern Health

Consent

Consent to only receive care or treatment for which your informed consent has been given
if you are able to give consent, generally speaking you are also able to refuse to receive care or treatment against medical advice. Some patients covered under the Mental Health Act 1986 are not able to refuse treatment recommended. Parents/guardians have rights in relation to the treatment of children. If you decide to refuse care or treatment, please ensure that you fully understand the consequences of your decision

Information

to be informed about your condition and problems and how to manage them; including risks, benefits and alternatives. Relatives or other people usually cannot be given details of your diagnosis or care without your consent. If you are too young to give consent, your parents can be given information
to obtain information, upon request, about the contents of your Southern Health records and to have access to these records by applying under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

Attitude of staff

to be treated with dignity, respect and consideration of your individual needs
to receive services in a manner which is neither discriminatory nor judgemental and which respects your culture and beliefs
to be introduced to all staff who assist with your care

Privacy and Confidentiality

to have your health information managed in a way that complies with the Health Records Act 2000, so that
the collection and distribution of your health care information is controlled your health care records are securely stored

For further details, please refer to the "Privacy Obligations' section

Safety

to receive services in an environment that is accessible, clean, safe and secure
Consultation
to request and receive a second opinion about your health care
to decide whether students may participate in your health care as part of their training program
to decide whether to participate in a research project
Support Person
to choose to invite a family member or other support person(s) to meetings where your health care is discussed
to appoint, in advance, someone to make health care decisions for
you if and when you become unable to do so
Cost of Health Care
to be informed of any costs that are payable for health services or supplies

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Your Responsibilities

Many things influence the provision and outcome of health services. Delivery of effective quality health care requires:
Behaviour that promotes effective exchange of information between you and your health care team

providing, to the best of your knowledge, accurate information about your own and any relevant family medical history; including all prescribed/non prescribed medications, drugs, remedies or substances that you are taking
participating in an agreed health care service program and keeping appointments arranged for you
asking questions of your health care staff so you understand and can participate in making decisions about your health care

Co operation from you and your family and friends by

respecting the privacy, needs and dignity of others by being courteous and considerate
respecting the visiting hours of the hospital/ health service
complying with visitors' guidelines for the hospital/health service

An environment that is safe, clean and pleasant

Southern Health has policies, which everyone is required to follow, to meet this need:

no smoking is allowed except in designated smoking areas
no alcohol or illicit drugs are to be brought onto the premises or consumed on the premises
noise is to be kept at a minimum for the benefit of those around you
staff may have to use equipment to assist them to lift or move you

That you leave all your valuables, especially money and jewellery at home

While staff will endeavour to take care of your belongings, Southern Health will not accept any responsibility for loss or damage to property brought into the facility.

Timely payment of all fees and accounts for which you are responsible.

Access to your Medicare card when you first present to the facility
If you are covered by private health insurance, please also bring these details with you.

providing, to the best of your knowledge, accurate information about your own and any relevant family medical history; including all prescribed/non prescribed medications, drugs, remedies or substances that you are taking
participating in an agreed health care service program and keeping appointments arranged for you
asking questions of your health care staff so you understand and can participate in making decisions about your health care

Co operation from you and your family and friends by

respecting the privacy, needs and dignity of others by being courteous and considerate
respecting the visiting hours of the hospital/ health service
complying with visitors' guidelines for the hospital/health service

An environment that is safe, clean and pleasant
Southern Health has policies, which everyone is required to follow, to meet this need:

no smoking is allowed except in designated smoking areas
no alcohol or illicit drugs are to be brought onto the premises or consumed on the premises
noise is to be kept at a minimum for the benefit of those around you
staff may have to use equipment to assist them to lift or move you

That you leave all your valuables, especially money and jewellery at home
While staff will endeavour to take care of your belongings, Southern Health will not accept any responsibility for loss or damage to property brought into the facility.

Timely payment of all fees and accounts for which you are responsible.

Access to your Medicare card when you first present to the facility
If you are covered by private health insurance, please also bring these details with you.

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Compliments, comments and concerns:

Southern Health appreciates all feedback about the services we provide and the manner in which they are delivered.
Feedback is used to continually improve the quality of services provided. It is confidential and will not affect your care or the services provided for you. It will be treated with respect and dealt with in a timely, courteous manner.
If you have any concerns, please ask to speak to a staff member directly involved with your care or the person in charge of your area. In most cases, that is the appropriate way to resolve issues, including any language difficulties experienced.
Southern Health staff are committed to solving problems quickly and efficiently.

If you wish to make a formal complaint, please contact the Complaints Officer at your facility:

Monash Medical Centre, Clayton. Ph 9594 2702
Monash Medical Centre, Moorabbin. Ph 9928 8584
Dandenong Hospital, Ph 9554 8454
Kingston Centre, Ph 9265 1493
Community Health/Primary Health Care, Ph 9594 2712

If you believe that your concerns have not been adequately addressed, you may contact:

The Health Services Commissioner
Level 30, 570 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000
Telephone:
8601 5200 or
Freecall: 1800 136 006

Privacy obligations:

Southern Health is required to collect and handle health information and to ensure the privacy of your health information in accordance with Health Records Act.
The Health Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act give you an enforceable right of access to your health record. To access your health record, please write to:

The F0I Officer Southern Health
Locked Bag 29
Clayton South VIC 3169

Southern Health is authorised to use your health information without obtaining specific consent:

where use is necessary for the purposes of staff safely and effectively providing treatment for you
for the purposes of funding, management, planning, monitoring, improvement or evaluation of health services provided the information required is anonymous
for research provided the research project has been approved by our Ethics Committee, which operates in accordance with Commonwealth requirements as to medical or social research and evaluates each research project with a view to protecting the privacy of individuals
where required to do so by law, eg. identifying patient details may be given to the Australian Red Cross Society for the purpose of tracing blood or blood products; there are statutory reporting requirements in respect of a child considered to be at risk; some infectious diseases have to be notified to the Department of Human Services

Southern Health can decline to give you access to the whole, or part of, your health record if we believe, on reasonable grounds, that to do so would pose a serious threat to the life or health of any person (including your own) and can decline to give you access to information about you given to us in confidence by another person, such as a friend or relative.

If you have any queries about the collection, use and disclosure of your health information, please contact Southern Health's Freedom of Information Officer (telephone: (03) 9594 2115).

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Rights and Responsibilities – other languages.

The brochure is available in the following languages in PDF format:

Arabic	Cambodian	Chinese	Croatian	Dari	Greek
Italian	Serbian	Turkish	Somali	Vietnamese

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