Te Hiringa Mahara does not handle complaints about individual or whānau experiences of using mental health and / or addiction services. These complaints are managed by the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC).
People who have concerns about the care they or others have experienced at a mental health or addiction service should contact the Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service or make a complaint to the HDC(external link).
The Advocacy Service can help people with concerns about a provider or service. Call them for free on 0800 555 050 or visit their website(external link) to email or live chat.
Te Hiringa Mahara is committed to providing quality reporting, advice, and communications about mental health and wellbeing in Aotearoa to the public and all our stakeholders.
If you have concerns about the way we are working, we would like to hear from you. We will work with you to not only put right your complaint, but to improve our reporting, advice, and communications for everyone.
You, or your advocate, can contact us by email at kiaora@mhwc.govt.nz. It will help us to quickly identify your complaint if you write ‘Complaint’ in the subject line.
Or you can write to us at:
Te Hiringa Mahara
DX Box SP22502
Wellington
We will only use your contact details so that we can respond directly to you. We will hold your personal information(external link) in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994. We will not disclose your information publicly and treat your information with respect.
However, if you wish to make a complaint anonymously it will be treated with the same level of importance and we will still act on the information you give us.
We will look into your complaint immediately to see what went wrong and how this can be put right.
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing and also let you know what we’ll do to resolve it.
If we need to work with others to resolve your complaint, this may take time. However, we’ll provide regular updates until the matter is resolved.
When we deal with your complaint, we will:
We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after we receive it. In some cases getting the right information to respond to your complaint may involve others. If this is the case we will let you know and the timeframes may be extended.
You will always be advised in writing when your complaint has been received.
All complaints are taken seriously and handled with immediate priority. We will ensure you are treated with respect and in a professional manner.
We will do our best to ensure you are satisfied with the outcome of your complaint investigation.
However, if you are not happy with our response or you think you have been treated unfairly, you may complain to the Ombudsman(external link).
