Your Healthcare Rights

In keeping with our continuing commitment to our patients/consumer and delivering quality outcomes, Neerim Health respects each patient/consumer’s right to participate in health care choices that affect them. If you are unable to make your own decisions, Neerim Health ensures that your interests are the focus of any decision that affects you. Neerim Health, your doctor and other health care professionals will work with you and your family to ensure that, at all times, your rights will be respected.

Neerim Health adheres to the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and the Charter of Aged Care Rights.

• The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights describes what you, or someone your care for, can expect when receiving health care.
• The Charter of Aged Care Rights sets out the rights of all people receiving Government-subsidised aged care services. The Charter applies regardless of the type of care or service.

Open Disclosure

Neerim Health (NH) is committed to quality in all aspects of patient and consumer management and will strive to ensure that all aspects of the care management process meet or exceed industry best practice.

Children’s Healthcare Rights

Neerim Health is also committed to ensuring that children have the same rights and therefore adheres to and promotes the young people’s health care rights and children’s health care rights.

Your Responsibilities

• To be concise and correct in explaining your own medical history and to include any details of medications you are taking
• To answer questions about your health frankly and honestly and to discuss and make decisions with your doctor regarding any problems which you feel may be affecting your health or medical condition
• To inform the doctor involved in your care, if you are currently in consultation with or under treatment from another health professional or alternative medicine/therapy, in connection with the same condition
• To query any issues you don’t understand with the doctor before you consent to any procedure/treatment
• To accept the consequences of your own informed decisions about your treatment and discharge planning
• To comply with prescribed treatment or inform the hospital professionals that you do not intend to do so
• To conduct yourself in an appropriate way and respect the well being and rights of other patients and staff
• Not to behave in a way that may interfere with current medical treatment, such as consuming alcohol or drugs whilst on hospital premises
• To raise questions or discuss any problems that you may be experiencing as soon as they occur with the Doctor, Nurse Unit Manager or the nurse looking after you
• To inform the hospital when asked if you do not wish your information to be forwarded in relation to the continuation of your care after you leave hospital
• To know the name and address of your local doctor
• If you are a private patient to pay your attending doctor’s fees and the hospital’s charges as billed

Privacy Information

As a patient/consumer of Neerim Health you have a right to be fully informed of the personal information we will collect from you, what we will use it for, how we will store it and your right of access to it.

Your Personal Information

• We will collect it discreetly
• We will store it securely
• Subject to what we say in this section, we will only provide your personal information to people involved in your care
• We will provide relevant information to your health fund, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Medicare Australia, Cancer Council, Victorian Department of Health and other entities when we are required by law to do so
• After removing details that could identify you, we may use the remaining data to assist with research and service improvement projects. We are also required to provide this kind of information to government agencies
• We will destroy our record of your information when it has become too old to be useful or when we are no longer required by law to retain it
• We may use this information to contact you regarding your hospital visit.
• All staff employed at Neerim Health must by law, respect the confidentiality and privacy of the information collected

Accessing your Personal Information

Individuals have a right to access the personal information that Neerim Health holds about them. In certain circumstances we may refuse a request for access as allowed by the Privacy Act or other applicable laws. If Neerim Health refuses access, we will give written notice of our decision, including our reasons and how to complain if the individual is not satisfied with the decision.

Neerim Health aims to ensure that your information is accurate and complete. You can help us achieve this by notifying us of change in personal details, such as name or address.

You can request access to personal information by contacting

Neerim Health
Mailing address: 29-39 Main Road, Neerim South 3831
Telephone: (03) 5628 1226

Each individual requesting access must do so in writing and will be required to verify their identity.

A fee will be charged for collating and providing access to personal and health information.