Your Community Health is committed to upholding the rights of our clients and community members.
Your health care rights
Your Community Health has adopted the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. The Charter describes the rights of clients, consumers, families and carers in all healthcare settings across Australia. The Charter is available in 17 languages, Braille and audio versions.
Consistent with the Charter, as a client of Your Community Health you have the right to:
- Access health care, regardless of your ability to pay
- Considerate, quality, respectful and safe care regardless of social status, gender, race, sexual preference, religion, political belief, mental health or any disabilities
- Clear, easy to understand information about your care, condition, treatment options, expected outcomes, side effects and costs
- Have your privacy and confidentiality respected, and a say in what happens to your personal health information
- Have access to personal information held in your record, in accordance with legislation.
- Makes suggestions, give positive or negative feedback, ask questions and make complaints about your care.
- Engage someone to represent you, including external advocacy groups.
- Access an interpreter.
Your responsibilities
As a client of Your Community Health, you have a responsibility to:
- Show consideration and respect to all staff, volunteers, clients and visitors
- Provide sufficient information to enable staff to provide the appropriate service, advice, and/or care
- Respect the privacy of others attending Your Community Health services and to keep in confidence any information shared by group members in programs conducted by Your Community Health
- You have a responsibility to participate in making decisions about your care and to ask for more information if you don’t understand something
- Carry out a treatment program or tell your health care worker is you are not intending to do so
- Observe safety procedures that may be requested while attending a service
- Tell Your Community Health if you are unable to make an appointment (at least 24 hours’ notice)
Staff rights and responsibilities
It is the responsibility of all staff members to:
- Inform you of your rights and responsibilities
- Assist you in exercising these rights
- Comply with international covenants, legislation and regulations in all contact with clients
It is the right of all staff to:
- Be treated with respect and courtesy
- See other clients if you are late for your appointment
- Refuse a service to anyone who abuses or threatens others
- Remove a client from the waiting list if appointments are consistently missed without proper notification
- Be provided with accurate information (e.g. medications) that may affect your treatment
For further information about the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights or your rights and responsibilities, you can ask your health worker or contact Siobhan Newman, Quality and Integration Manager on (03) 8470 1111 or info@yourcommunityhealth.org.au.