The Health And Disability Commissioner is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for promoting and protecting the rights of health and disability services consumers, and facilitating the fair, simple, speedy, and efficient resolution of complaints. History Prior to 1972 to obtain compensation for illness, accident or disability the consumer would have to go through the Workers Compensation act, or through the common law. The Woodhouse report led to the Accident Compensation Act (1994). The purpose of this was to speed treatment and compensation. Consumers could not sue healthcare providers under this act. The Accident Compensation Act (1974) was intended to give better access to services for consumers. However the shortcomings with this was that healthcare providers that consistently provided substandard care were not penalized. Following the Cartwright inquiry, the Health and Disability act (1992) appointed the Health and Disability commissioner to receive complaints from consumers, review and address where there are breaches. Morag McDowell became Health and Disability Commissioner in September 2020. She came to the HDC after 13 years as a Coroner in the Auckland region. Function of the HDC The Health and Disability Commissioner is established under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994. The statutory purpose of the Health and Disability Commissioner is to “promote and protect the rights of health consumers and disability services consumers,” and facilitate “the fair, simple, speedy, and efficient resolution of complaints”. To this end, the Health and Disability Commissioner’s stated functions are to: Promote, by education and publicity, respect for and observance of the rights of health and disability services consumers, and, in particular, to promote awareness among health and disability services consumers and health and disability services providers, of the rights of health and disability services consumers, and of the means by which those rights may be enforced; Make public statements and publish reports in relation to any matter affecting the rights of health and disability services consumers, including statements and reports that promote an understanding of, and compliance with, the Code or the provisions of the Act; Act as the initial recipient of complaints about health care providers and disability services providers, and to ensure that each complaint is appropriately dealt with; Investigate, on complaint or on the Commissioner’s own initiative, any action that is or appears to be in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights 1996 (a regulation under the Health and Disability