Rights and responsibilities

As a patient, client, carer, family member, consumer or visitor of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, you have a number of rights and responsibilities.

You have the right to:

• Access - to access the health services and treatment you need.
• Safety - to receive high quality care in a safe environment.
• Respect - to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of your culture, religion, beliefs, values, sexuality, age, gender or ability.
• Partnership - to ask questions and be involved in decisions about your care. To include the people you want involved in those discussions and decisions.
• Information - to receive information about your health care, and the risks and benefits of different tests and treatments. To receive this information in a way that you can understand, so that you can give informed consent.  To be told if something has gone wrong during your healthcare, how it happened and what is being done to make care safe.
• Privacy - to respect your personal privacy, and to keep information about you and your healthcare secure and confidential.
• Give feedback - To provide feedback or make a complaint without affecting the way you are treated. To have your concerns addressed in an honest and timely way. To share your experience and to help us improve the quality of the care and services we provide.

  To find out how to give us feedback ask our staff for a ‘Compliments and Complaints’ brochure or visit the Compliments and Complaints page of our website.

You have the responsibility of:

• Access - Come to your appointment on time and let us know when you cannot make it.
• Safety - Tell us about your medical history, the medications you take and any allergies you may have. If you are unsure about the care you are receiving talk to your health care worker.
• Respect - Be courteous to our staff and other patients. Respect the policies and practices of the facility, such as smoke free zones and zero tolerance to violence.
• Partnership - You can be involved in the decisions made about your care by talking to your healthcare worker and asking questions.
• Information - Be open and honest with us. Please ask questions if you need more information. If you need an interpreter ask the staff to organise one for you.
• Privacy - Respect the privacy and confidentiality of others.
• Give feedback - We would appreciate hearing about when we are doing things well and when we are not. To find out how to give us feedback please ask our staff for a ‘Compliments and Complaints’ brochure or visit the Compliments and Complaints page of our website.