Queensland Health
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Queensland Health is the department of the Government of Queensland responsible for operating and administering the public health system of the Australian State of Queensland. It is responsible to the State's Minister for Health Stephen Robertson and its Director-General is Uschi Schreiber.
Queensland Health is divided up into 38 "health districts", each district usually centred upon a major hospital or regional centre. Queensland Health has approximately 65,000 employees across the state.
In the mid-1940s Queensland was the first state in Australia to introduce free and universal public hospital treatment, a policy that some other states followed.
In 2005 Queensland Health came under much criticism about its perceived top-heavy bureaucratic structure and its inaction in the face of allegations of gross clinical incompetence by the former Bundaberg Base Hospital surgical director Dr Jayant Patel. As a result, Queensland Health is undergoing a thorough administrative review into the practices of its administrative officials and is also being scrutinised by a public Commission of Inquiry into Dr Jayant Patel led by Tony Morris, QC. There has also been much controversy over practices at the John Tonge Centre, where autopsies mandated by the Coroner's Act are performed for the Brisbane metropolitan area.
[edit] History and Developments
Following the restructure of Queensland Health at the end of the Davies Inquiry, Morris Inquiry and Forster Inquiry reviews there has been a mass exodus of senior experienced officers from the organisation. Some of these individuals had over 20 years experience in the health system. The following officers are known to have left or taken voluntary retirement - Dr Stephen Buckland (Director General), Dr Gerry Fitzgerald (Chief Health Officer and Deputy Director General), Dr John Scott (General Manager Health Services), Ms Anne Turner, Ms Karen Roach (Southern Zonal Manager), Mr Tony Hayes and others. It will be interesting to examine the impact of such a loss of knowledge in the years to come.
Replacement senior staff appointed in late 2005 included:
- General Managers, Area Health Services
- Terry Mehan, Southern Area Health Service - Mr Mehan was formerly a Zonal Manager for Queesnaldn health in North Queensland and prior to that General Manager of the Hunter Area Health Service in New South Wales.
- Gloria Wallace, Central Area Health Service - Ms Wallace was briefly Acting Deputy Director-General following the restructure and removal of Dr John Scott and prior to that District Manager of The Prince Charles Hospital and Health Service District.
- Roxanne Ramsay, Northern Area Health Service - Ms Ramsay was formerly the Director for Country Health in the South Australian Department of Health.
- Executive Director, Policy, Planning and Resourcing
- Professor Andrew Wilson - formerly Professor of Public Health in the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland. He also worked for New South Wales Health for six years in the positions of Chief Health Officer and Deputy Director-General.
- Executive Director, Reform and Development Unit
- Professor Stephen Duckett - was formerly the Professor of Health Policy, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and pro Vice-chancellor(Learning and Teaching)at La Trobe University.
- Chief Health Officer
- Dr J Young
- Executive Director, Corporate Services
- Michael Kalimnios - formerly from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
[edit] Health Commission
In response to the Forster Review of Queensland Health Systems an independent Health Commission will be created incorporating the existing Health Rights Commission to allow patients to lodge complaints about health matters. The annual cost of the Commission will commence at $7.7million,
The Minister stated (5 October 2005) that "The Forster Review found while Queensland Health's policy reflects contemporary best practice, its implementation has been poor and there is a lack of uniformity and quality in complaints systems across the State. People are unsure how to lodge complaints, staff don't feel confident in handling them and there is an inadequate system for informing Queensland Health about complaints or concerns."
Complaints unresolved after 30 days will be escalated to a Health Commission which is alleged to be independent of the Department, though details of any independence from government involvement is less clear. There are to be patient support officers and health district Complaints Coordinators supported by a Complaints Manager in each of the 3 Area Health Services.
The Commission will apparently have three Directors, one of whom will be responsible for the existing Health Rights Commission functions which include handling of complaints.
The government will also establish a state-wide complaints database to record all complaints and compliments.
The Health Commission will also have a role in the development and implementation of quality, safety and clinical practice standards throughout Queensland's public and private services and monitor best practice clinical governance and patient safety.
It will be subject to review by an all-party Parliamentary Committee after its first full year of operation.
