Victoria’s healthcare disgrace revealed in 5700 watchdog complaints

A hospital that sent home a child who needed emergency surgery and a business claiming to cure cancer were among thousands of complaints against healthcare workers in the past financial year.

A hospital that sent a child in need of emergency surgery home, a business claiming to cure cancer and a Melbourne cosmetic clinics’ refund dispute were among the more than 5700 complaints made to the state’s healthcare watchdog last financial year.

The Health Complaints Commission annual report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, shows the thousands of complaints received between July 2022 and June 2023 include 1524 complaints about hospitals, 989 about clinics and 1281 against registered healthcare workers including 963 doctors.

Other notable categories included prison health services (964 complaints), pharmacy (132), community health services (86), ambulance and patient transport (80), laboratory services (71), mental health services (51) and cosmetic services (46).

In the same time period, the commission launched 24 investigations.

Shocking cases detailed included a sick child who — after waiting several hours at a “large regional public hospital” — was diagnosed with Covid and “encouraged to return home”.

A sick child diagnosed with Covid was ‘encouraged to return home’ after waiting several hours at a ‘large regional public hospital’. Picture: iStock

“Shortly after returning home however, the child’s condition worsened and the parent took the child to another hospital where emergency surgery was undertaken to remove the appendix,” the report says.

“Following this experience, the child was extremely nervous of pain and negatively associated it with their hospital experience.”

The report says the hospital formally apologised to the family, made changes to their emergency department to “reduce the risk of a similar misdiagnosis in future” and arranged free hospital counselling for the distressed child.

The annual report also reveals a “pattern of complaints” against a Melbourne clinic triggered an investigation which found cosmetic patients were struggling to get a refund after they cancelled their appointments.

The patients had done so after learning a doctor at the clinic had been suspended, and “several” received their refunds after the Commission contacted the clinic.

The report also details how an alternative health provider in Melbourne, who suggested they had a cancer-curing device and allegedly claimed Covid did not exist, was banned from providing any health services.

The commission served 50 orders last financial year that permanently or temporarily banned providers from offering health services. Picture: iStock

The Commission served 50 orders last financial year that permanently or — in cases where the allegations under investigation were deemed so serious the person was a public safety threat — temporarily banned providers from offering health services.

Some of these were against health workers accused of sexual misconduct.

The report citing a “continued trend” in such complaints and detailed the case of a massage therapist who was banned after they were found to have inappropriately touched a woman and removed her clothes without her consent during an appointment at her home.

The report said most complaints they received involved “counselling, massage or sonography” but a different regulator — AHPRA — typically investigating cases involving registered healthcare practitioners such as nurses and doctors.

The report also revealed the regulator had to launch an internal review into themselves after receiving several complaints about “complaint handling and timeliness”.

“To address these complaints, we have reviewed our processes internally and improved the way we record and deal with complaints.

“We hope that these news ways of working will expedite our work and offer a better service to the community.”

Originally published as Victoria’s healthcare disgrace revealed in 5700 watchdog complaints