Privacy
The VHES program is governed by legislation that protects patient privacy and how patient information is handled. Survey responses are deidentified before information is reported back to health services.
Consistent with requirements under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), health services provide patient contact details and other details essential for Ipsos to undertake its role as survey administrator. Ipsos securely stores this information in an Australian database in accordance with ISO27001, until the quarterly data collection cycle is completed, and the patient data is deleted. Databases are subject to scheduled penetration testing and security compliance assessment.
To opt-out of the VHES program, or to access or correct any information Ipsos holds about you, please call 1800 356 928
Data collection statement
The Victorian Healthcare Experience Survey program invites patients and carers of patients who recently received services in the public health system to provide feedback about their recent experience of care. Survey responses are deidentified and provided to the Victorian Department of Health (the Department) and health services, which are used to evaluate and improve health care delivery in Victoria. Survey responses will not affect any health services that may be provided to survey participants or persons in their care.
Ipsos Australia, an independent research company, is contracted by the Department to administer a number of different health service surveys, analyse the results, and provide reports to public health services, Ambulance Victoria and the Department.
Victorian public health services and Ambulance Victoria provide limited information about relevant patient admissions directly to Ipsos Australia to enable the administration and evaluation of the surveys. Depending on the type of survey, this information may include details such as name and contact information, demographic information, admission type and dates, and Indigenous status. Authorised Mental Health Services may provide the name and contact details of patient carers.
Ipsos Australia engages other companies to assist in managing the surveys and translating responses. Ipsos Australia and these companies use a unique code to track responses in its survey systems, rather than by name.
Ipsos Australia will collect any partially completed electronic responses that are provided so that participants can return to the survey later if they wish. Incomplete responses will be deleted at the end of each quarterly survey cycle. We request that survey participants do not provide any information that would identify them or another person in their survey responses. Survey responses are temporarily linked by the unique code to personal information held by Ipsos Australia to enable distribution of survey invitations and reminders. Ipsos Australia will retain personal information for a period of 6 months so that participants are not sent another survey within that period. After that time, Ipsos Australia will destroy its record of your personal information.
You are able to gain access to information held about you by Ipsos Australia and the Department by calling 1800 356 928, or via email at [email protected].
If you wish to make a complaint about the health service you received, please make the complaint directly to the relevant health service rather than including the complaint in the survey response. This is because your survey response is de-identified and we may not be able to act on specific complaints contained within the response. If you feel the health service is not responding to your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Health Complaints Commissioner on 1300 582 113.