The Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) has reported a continued increase in the volume and complexity of health service complaints received in Queensland during the 2024–2025 financial year.

This upward trend reflects a year-on-year increase in serious matters for investigation, prohibition orders and matters filed in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

The Health Ombudsman made 35 permanent prohibition orders against unregistered health practitioners in 2024–2025 compared to 14 in 2023–2024—more than a two-fold increase.

Additionally, 42 disciplinary matters for registered health practitioners were filed in QCAT compared to 37 in 2023–2024, an increase of around 14 percent.

The annual report also highlights that 57 per cent of complaints assessed in 2024–2025 were categorised as a high risk or ‘priority matter’, compared to 48 per cent in 2023–2024.

A complaint is considered a priority matter if there has been a significant adverse treatment outcome including serious harm or death, serious conduct and/or performance concerns, sensitive consumer vulnerabilities, or the complaint involves an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander person and requires culturally safe management.

“These trends demonstrate the vital role we play in addressing risks to public health and safety through our complaint management and regulatory actions,” Health Ombudsman Dr Lynne Coulson Barr OAM said.

“Complaints about health services continue to feature a wide range of issues of safety, quality, and patient rights. We have been addressing these through our assessment, resolution, investigation and referral oversight functions” she said.

The OHO commenced 260 investigations in 2024–2025 and successfully implemented a range of strategies to meet the challenges of increased numbers and complexity of investigations.

This resulted in the record number of 238 investigations being finalised in 2024–2025, compared to 180 in 2023–2024.

The OHO also commenced 114 conciliations, up from 90 in the previous year. In addition, the OHO saw an increase in the number of matters resolved through early resolution at the intake stage without the need for a relevant action under the Health Ombudsman Act 2013.

“The OHO’s strong operational performance and impact throughout 2024–2025 was demonstrated by achieving individual outcomes through these resolution processes, alongside the significant contributions made to promoting health service and systemic improvements,” Dr Coulson Barr OAM said.

The OHO published seven ‘snapshot reports’ in 2024–2025 to promote broader application of the learnings across the health sector, detailing investigations into health services, the outcomes of recommendations, and systemic issues identified in complaints and notifications. The OHO also reports on the number and types of recommendations that are made from health service and systemic investigations. Reporting on this work is seen as an important way of demonstrating the outcomes achieved through complaints and investigations, maintaining public confidence and contributing to broader service and systemic improvements.

One snapshot report featured the implementation of the OHO’s recommendations at Doomadgee Rural Hospital and Gidgee Healing following a systemic investigation into both services, resulting in tangible changes and improvements to health service provision for the Doomadgee community.

Other key highlights from the OHO’s 2024–2025 annual report include:

• Health professions that accounted for the highest percentage of complaints received were medical practitioners (62 per cent), nurses (16 per cent) and dentists (6 per cent).
• Health service organisations that accounted for the highest percentage of complaints received were public hospitals (33 per cent), correctional facilities (25 per cent) and medical centres (11 per cent).
• As of 30 June 2025, 309 practitioners were being monitored for compliance with immediate actions and prohibition orders.
• The OHO monitored the implementation of 248 individual recommendations made from systemic and health service investigations, closing 163 recommendations through evidence of service improvement actions demonstrated by health services,

The annual report highlights the OHO’s commitment to safeguarding public health and safety while driving systemic improvements across Queensland’s health services.

View a copy of the OHO annual report (PDF 3.5MB)