HealthQuest Services

The Hon. Dr B. P. V. PEZZUTTI [5.11 p.m.]: I bring to the attention of the House a significant response I received from Ms Merrilyn Walton, the Commissioner of the Health Care Complaints Commission. In her letter, received by my office last Friday, Ms Walton said:

I refer to your representations to the Health Care Complaints Commission about your concerns with the services provided by HealthQuest. The Commission undertook a review of the complaints made to it and as a result decided to investigate complaints in relation to HealthQuest pursuant to Part 3 of the Health Care Complaints Act, 1993. As you are aware section 60 of the Act requires the Commission to notify the Director General of the Department of Health and request a report in the first instance. It is hoped that the Department’s report will obviate the need for the Commission to institute its own investigation.

The decision to investigate arose from a review of 11 complaints concerning HealthQuest received between 1998 and 1999.

The review of the Commission files found a pattern of concerns relating to HealthQuest and the Medical Appeals Panel (MAP) which may be summarised as follows:

•inadequate information provided to people directed to attend assessment in relation to the powers processes of HealthQuest and MAP, the nature of the assessment, the basis of the referral to HealthQuest, their rights and review processes.

•reliance on "unsafe" information provided by employers with particular reference to whistleblowers.

•inadequate assessment (both medical and of abilities required to perform certain duties) and documentation and unsound use of psychiatric diagnoses.

•lack of transparency and fairness in processes used by HealthQuest and MAP.

The commission has in the past referred a number of complaints to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and I understand that commission has also communicated with the Department about these complaints. I am also advised the Department of Health has been conducting a review to determine the relationship between the Department and HealthQuest and into the role and function of MAP to ensure

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that the principles of accountability, transparency and natural justice are upheld.

The Deputy Ombudsman has advised the Commission that the Ombudsman also has a number of complaints concerning HealthQuest. Both organisations have appraised the other of issues arising from complaints they hold.

Having given due regard to actions being taken by other agencies, I considered the most effective approach to address the systemic concerns is the establishment of a Department of Health working party to report to the Commission within 4 months. The Department has already advised the Commission that it is willing to undertake such a review of Health Quest and it will advise the Commission if the given time frame is not considered realistic. If it wished, the Department could use such a working party to deal with any separate issues raised by the Ombudsman. This will reduce any duplication between the role of the Ombudsman and this Commission.

Please advise me if I can be of any further assistance . . .

The letter was sent to me as a result of letters that I have been sending for more than a year to the Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC], the Ombudsman, the Department of Health, and the Health Care Complaints Commission. Serious matters of concern were raised by at least five individuals who contacted me. This matter was reported in the Sun Herald. It is not a matter of no public note; it is a very important matter.

HealthQuest is a corporation that is owned by the Health Department. It is a corporatised body established under the Greiner Government, and it is the amalgamation of a whole series of agencies who had their own medical services, such as Transport House and others. Those agencies were amalgamated as a corporation wholly owned by the department. As a result, matters that had to be adjudicated regarding fitness to serve in various agencies, such as the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Transport, were referred to HealthQuest for its report.

I share the concerns expressed by the Commissioner of the Health Care Complaints Commission about transparency, honesty, and so on. I referred those concerns to ICAC, and I know that ICAC took notice of them and investigated them. But because of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act, no-one can find out what HealthQuest is up to. Having referred the concerns to ICAC, as a good member of Parliament I then sat back and waited for ICAC to take action. I did not publicise the fact that I had referred the concerns to ICAC; I simply referred them to ICAC and expected a result. I received no result, so I eventually wrote again to Ms Walton and also raised the matter with her at a committee hearing. She has now taken the appropriate action to bring all the agencies together.

How amazing it is to find ICAC and the Ombudsman acting on the working party of the Health Department! They all consider this to be a very serious matter. I await with considerable interest - as many people in New South Wales do, whistleblowers in particular - to see the result and what actions the Government will take now that it is aware of the problems. [Time expired.]