Dr. Brian Doherty:

The Chairman asked about time limits for dealing with complaints. In effect, the Act provides for three categories of complaint: the provision of services of an inadequate standard; excessive costs; and misconduct. There is no time limit for the making of a misconduct complaint. There is a three-year time limit for making a complaint about services of inadequate standard or excessive costs. The time limit runs from either the date of the incident or the date on which the client became aware. If the client was to become aware of the provision of inadequate services quite some time after the fact, a complaint would still be admissible.

The review committee is made up of three persons. It has a lay majority - two laypersons and one legal practitioner.