A new code of conduct applies to health care workers in the ACT from January 2024. The Code was recently enacted in the ACT, bringing us into line with other states.
The code gives the community minimum standards of care they can expect when using a health service including providing safe and ethical care, minimum standards of hygiene, record keeping, protecting patient privacy and consent to treatment.
Health care workers include massage therapists, counsellors, naturopaths, dieticians, social workers, nursing or dental assistants and beauticians providing services like laser therapy or botox injections. (It does not apply to registered practitioners like nurses, doctors or dentists, who have their own codes of conduct.)
Health care workers must display the code, and a notice letting people know where to complain if they are unhappy with their care, in the place in which they provide the health service. These forms are on our website.
If our Health Services Commissioner gets a complaint from a patient, they will call the health worker and discuss resolving the matter. The Commissioner may also ask for a written response or organise a meeting. In rare cases, the Commissioner may take further action like limiting the servces a health worker can provide.
The Health Services Commissioner can already accept complaint about any health worker or health service in the ACT but these new powers commence in January 2024.
More information about the code is on our website. For enquiries about the code, or if you have a complaint or concern about a health care worker or a health service, contact us.