Health Concilliation
Health conciliation is a service used when a patient or patient’s representative is unhappy and dissatisfied with the treatment or care they have received. Health conciliation can be part of a health provider's complaints procedure. Conciliators act as an independent impartial “go between” for practitioners, patients or their representatives.
The conciliator does not represent the patient, their representative or the practitioner but all of the parties involved in the conciliation process. The process provides the opportunity for patients or their representatives to air their feelings and thoughts to the practitioners they have received care from.
In health conciliation patients or their representatives may have questions, feelings and thoughts and they require a response or acknowledgement from the practioner/s. Conciliation can provide a forum for the practioners to address these feelings.
The UNITE process
The health organisation will refer the case to UNITE.
A conciliator will contact the referrer, usually the Complaints Manager, to obtain clients' contact details and information about the issues involved in the dispute.
Separate contact will be made with the patient or their representative and the practitioner/s to introduce the conciliation service, discuss the process and briefly talk about the issues.
If appropriate the conciliators will hold a face to face case interviews with the patient or their representative and the Practitioner/s.
The conciliators may seek additional help and advice from an expert.
The conciliators will facilitate a joint meeting between the patient or their representative and the Practitioner/s if it is agreed by all parties.
The conciliators will assist in the writing of the agreement between the patient or their representative and the Primary Care Practitioner as appropriate - using their words.
The agreement reached will be fed back to the referrer, subject to the confidentiality agreement between the parties.
