Legal forces pair up to improve Vic health services
A boutique law firm founder has partnered up with a legal technology start-up to launch a new application which aims to improve the quality of Victoria’s health services.

Polaris Lawyers founder Nick Mann, together with legal tech start-up Josef, has rolled out a new, free chatbot as they look to greater support Victorian patients.
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It comes after the last financial year showed that more than 14,000 complaints were made by Victorians about the health services they received, ranging from misdiagnosis, to unnecessary and expensive prescriptions, and unexplained and painful side effects resulting from treatment they received.
The chatbot, Health Complaints Assist, works by automating the complaint process by using answers to questions to draft a letter or email for the user to send to their health services provider.
The application allows users to make complaints against any Victorian health care practitioner and about any type of claim.
While some people may seek a refund or compensation through the app, one of the most important parts of Health Complaints Assist is its ability to improve the health services industry, according to a joint statement released by Mr Mann and Josef.
“Complaints are an important tool for improving patient care and communication, and for empowering patients who have had a negative experience with their medical treatment,” Mr Mann said.
“We built the health complaints assist tool to help navigate patients through a process that can be intimidating and confusing.”
Sam Flynn, founder of Josef added: “If you have a sore tooth, you go the dentist. If you have a broken car, you go to a mechanic. It should be no different for lawyers.
“But, more than half of 8.5 million Australians who have a legal problem every year don’t seek any legal help. Josef wants to change that by making legal help accessible and available for everyone.
“We’re proud to launch Health Complaints Assist with Polaris Lawyers, the first of many projects around the world which will help us achieve our vision.”