When something has gone wrong

Bring it to the practice first if you are comfortable doing so — that is almost always the fastest way to get a real answer. There are three ways to reach our Complaints Officer.

If your complaint is about the Complaints Officer themselves, address it to the Practice Principal at the same email address — marked “For attention of the Practice Principal” — and it will be handled outside the normal complaints chain.

The more we have to work with, the better the answer:

• your name and the best way to reach you;
• the date and approximate time of the consultation or interaction you are complaining about;
• the name of the clinician or staff member involved, if you know it;
• what happened, in your own words — there is no required format;
• what outcome you are hoping for. Sometimes the right answer is a refund; sometimes it is a written apology; sometimes it is a change to how the practice runs.

You can complain on behalf of someone else with their written permission, or as the parent or legal guardian of a person who cannot consent for themselves.

3.1 Acknowledgement

You will hear from the Complaints Officer in writing within two business days of us receiving your complaint, confirming we have it and giving you a reference number.

3.2 Investigation

We look at the full clinical record, talk to anyone in the practice who was involved, and — where we need to — seek independent clinical or legal advice. We do not investigate ourselves where the complaint goes to senior conduct; in that case the matter is referred to an external reviewer at our cost.

3.3 Response

We give a substantive written response within fifteen business days, addressing each point you raised. Where we find that the practice fell short we say so plainly, set out what we are doing to make it right, and propose a remedy where one is appropriate.

3.4 If we need more time

Some complaints — particularly those involving multiple consultations or third parties — take longer to investigate properly. If your matter needs more than fifteen business days we tell you why, and how much more time we expect to need, before that window closes.

You can raise a complaint about anyone in the practice without it affecting the quality of care you continue to receive from anyone else in the practice. The Ahpra Code of Conduct, and our internal policy, both forbid retaliation against a complainant.

If you would prefer to switch to a different clinician within Golden Ratio Clinics during or after a complaint, we will make that happen without fuss. You can also ask for your records to be transferred to another practice at any time — we send the full clinical record at no cost.

You have the right to take a complaint to an independent body at any time — you do not have to come to us first. The right body depends on what your complaint is about.

5.1 Clinician conduct, performance or health

For concerns about the conduct, performance or health of any registered clinician — doctor or nurse — the national body is the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), working with the Medical Board or Nursing & Midwifery Board.

Raise a concern with Ahpra · phone 1300 419 495.

5.2 Service quality, communication, billing

For concerns about how the service was delivered — wait times, communication, fees, follow-up — the right body is the Health Complaints Commissioner for the state or territory where you live. They work directly with us to resolve the complaint and have the power to compel us to respond.

5.3 Privacy and information-handling

For complaints about how we have collected, used, stored or disclosed your personal or health information, the relevant body is the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Make a privacy complaint to the OAIC · phone 1300 363 992.

5.4 Therapeutic goods or advertising concerns

For concerns about therapeutic goods (the products themselves) or about how a therapeutic good has been advertised in Australia, the relevant body is the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Report a problem to the TGA.

5.5 Consumer-law issues

For unresolved consumer-law issues — for example, a refund you believe is owed under the Australian Consumer Law — the relevant body is your state or territory consumer-protection agency, or the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Contact the ACCC.

Complaints are treated confidentially within the practice. The complaint itself, our investigation notes, and our response are kept in a separate complaints register, not in your clinical record. Information from a complaint is disclosed outside the practice only with your consent, where we are required by law, or where the matter is referred to a regulator with jurisdiction over it.

We use complaints data — stripped of identifying detail — to improve the practice. Quarterly trends are reported to the clinical-governance group and published in summary form in our internal practice review.

Feedback about things that worked, ideas for changes you would like to see, and observations about the practice are just as welcome. They go to the same address — contact@goldenratio.clinic — and they shape what we work on next.