Service Charter and Feedback

National Blood Authority - Service Charter

Foreword
Who are we?
What we do
What we are not
Who is the service charter for?
Our service commitment to you
Customer commitment to us
Your Rights and Responsibilities
If you write to us we will
If you telephone us we will
How do customers provide comments and feedback about our services?
How do we handle complaints?
Monitoring and Review
How we communicate with our customers and how you can contact us
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS)
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Individual Requirements

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Foreword

Our Customer Service Charter has been developed in consultation with our staff and our customers. We undertake to regularly update our Customer Service Charter to reflect any significant changes to the nature of our business and to ensure that it remains relevant to your needs.

We aim to provide services that are efficient, and relevant to ensuring the quality and availability of blood and blood products to Australia.

I encourage you to read this Charter as we look forward to working with you to achieve the standards of service that you expect and to maintain a strong and valued relationship.

Alison Turner
General Manager
January 2007

Who are we?

The National Blood Authority (NBA) is a statutory agency established by the Australian Government to represent the interests of the Australian and all State and Territory governments. The NBA was established under the National Blood Authority Act 2003 as part of a coordinated national approach to policy setting, governance and management of the Australian blood banking and plasma product sector.

What we do

The successful management of blood and blood products is of vital importance to our society. The NBA coordinates the national demand and supply planning of blood and blood products and purchases those products on behalf of all Australian governments.

We also negotiate and manage contracts with suppliers of blood and blood products to enable the development of an agreed single national pricing schedule.

We work with governments and other parties to ensure that Australia’s blood supply is adequate, safe, secure and affordable.

What we are not

While we work with all Australian Governments in the development of policy and intergovernmental financial arrangements for the supply of blood, we are not a decision maker on policy or funding matters.

Neither are we responsible for product safety and regulation although the NBA would seek to ensure that the products we purchase on behalf of Governments meet the standards of the regulator, in this case the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We do not directly collect, produce or supply any blood or blood products.

Finally, we are not a funding organisation for research although we may from time to time commission studies to support our role in the blood sector.

Who is the service charter for?

We have a close working relationship with our customers comprising of:

The Australian Government
State and Territory Governments (as represented through the Jurisdictional Blood Committee)
other government departments, product suppliers and professional and community groups.

Our service commitment to you

We will provide a professional, quality and efficient service to you and respond promptly in line with the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct and APS Values as detailed in the Public Service Act 1999.

For further information contact the Australian Public Service Commission at www.apsc.gov.au.

We undertake to:

listen to you
be courteous and considerate
treat you professionally and with respect
provide accurate and clear information in a timely manner
be accessible
be fair and understanding
treat confidential information in an appropriate manner
maintain accurate and up-to-date contact lists
make our website easy to navigate and
respond to feedback.

Customer commitment to us

We expect our customers will treat us with respect and consideration.

Your Rights and Responsibilities

You have legal rights as a customer dealing with the NBA and are entitled to expect:

that personal information will be treated appropriately in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 a legally enforceable right to access documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 that information you provide to us which is appropriately classified as confidential, will be kept in confidence, except where disclosure is required by law and compliance with Commonwealth and anti-discrimination law provisions.

If you write to us we will

respond to you as quickly as possible
acknowledge your letter, email or fax within ten working days of receiving it if a complete response is unable to be made in that time
within twenty working days, aim to provide you with an answer. If we cannot meet that standard, we will keep you informed of progress.

If you telephone us we will

answer the phone promptly and courteously
identify ourselves by organisation, name and
respond to your enquiry within three working days. However, if a more detailed response is required, we will keep you informed of progress on the enquiry.
We will aim to assist in referring your enquiry to a more appropriate agency if the matter you have raised is not our responsibility.

How do customers provide comments and feedback about our services?

We will consult with our customers in an effort to maintain and improve our level of service as we value and will consider all feedback.

It is important to us that we know if you are happy with our level of service and offer a compliment so that we may recognise and reward excellent service by our staff. If you are dissatisfied with us, we would also like to know about it so that we can consider your ideas to improve our services.

You can offer your suggestions by contacting us by phone, email, letter or fax - see our contact details and customer feedback form at the back of this Charter.

How do we handle complaints?

We will ensure that your complaint is taken seriously and will endeavour to resolve the matter quickly if you are not happy with our customer service.

If you wish to make a complaint:

you are encouraged to contact the person you have been dealing with as it would be expected that the person would be able to resolve the issue quickly or if the matter is unable to be resolved by this person, your complaint may be referred to a manager or the most knowledgeable person to deal with it or you can send us your complaint – our contact details are at the back of this Charter. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you may write to the General Manager to seek a review of the matter and a response as soon as possible or within 28 working days of the NBA receiving a written complaint with sufficient detail to investigate the matter.

If you remain unhappy with our handling of the complaint or this outcome, you may take the complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman in your State or Territory. The Commonwealth Ombudsman may be contacted on

1300 362 072, or by writing to:

The Commonwealth Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
Canberra ACT 2601

or at http://www.comb.gov.au.

Monitoring and Review

Your feedback on the effectiveness of our Charter and performance will:

assist us to ensure that we continue to reflect your needs and expectations and
be a measure of our compliance with the service standards set out in this Charter.
We will:

review our Charter at least every 3 years
consider and monitor the nature of all feedback
establish a customer feedback register, to help us recognise where our services can be improved
publish a summary of our service performance in our Annual Report.

How we communicate with our customers and how you can contact us:

Office location

National Blood Authority
Level 1, 19-23 Moore Street
Turner ACT 2612

By email

nationalbloodauthority@nba.gov.au

By mail

National Blood Authority
Locked Bag 8430
Canberra ACT 2601

By facsimile

02 6211 8330

By telephone

Executive & Legal Services

The offices of:

The General Manager
The Deputy General Managers
General Counsel

Ph: 02 6211 8300

Communications

All media inquiries should be directed to Ms Stephanie Gunn.
Ph: 0413 486 433

Corporate Services and Secretariat

All matters relating to Corporate Services and Secretariat
Ph: 02 6211 8371

Financial Management

All matters regarding accounts and invoices
Ph: 02 6211 8331

Human Resources

All matters including recruitment
Ph: 02 6211 8315

Supply Contract Management

All matters regarding supply of fresh blood products
Ph: 02 6211 8342
All matters regarding supply of products provided by commercial suppliers
Ph: 02 6211 8331

Other organisations that may assist you with blood related matters are:

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS)

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service is the national organisation responsible for blood donor recruitment and related activities, collections, testing, processing and the distribution of the blood donated by Australians.

Additionally, the ARCBS performs other vital functions to help the community, including research and development, maintenance of the Australian Bone Marrow Registry and tissue typing for transplantation.

For blood donation enquiries please call 13 14 95

For general enquiries please call 03 9863 1600 or 03 9863 1700

Website: http://www.donateblood.com.au

Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)

The TGA is an Australian Government organisation responsible for:

the safety and regulation of blood products
the regulation of products on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
Infoline: 1800 020 653

Website: http://www.tga.gov.au

Individual Requirements

For information about the applicability of blood and blood products in your individual circumstances, contact your clinician, hospital or State and Territory Department of Health.

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