When you contact a health and disability advocate, they will explain your legal rights to you, help you identify and clarify the issues, help you consider the options available to you, and support you when you take action.
If you decide to complain to the health professional or disability service directly, an advocate can help with this. This includes support with specific things like getting access to your medical files and dealing with the various health or disability professionals involved.
The advocate will try to help you and the other side resolve the problem yourselves. However, they’re not a neutral mediator – their job is to support and represent you.
If you can’t reach an agreement, the advocate will help you complain to the provider’s professional body – for example, if it’s a doctor this will be the NZ Medical Council – or will pass on your complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner.
The Code of Rights also allows you to complain directly to the particular health or disability service or to complain directly to an advocate.
The advocate will begin by trying to help you resolve the problem by agreement with the provider. If this can’t be done, the advocate must then pass your complaint on to the Health and Disability Commissioner.