Because your voice matters.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Working Group

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Open to Fraser – Vancouver Coastal, Patient partners from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

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Have you or a loved one had surgery? Wondered about the protocols that affect recovery, and want to participate in making decisions and developing strategies to improve outcomes for surgical patients? This opportunity is for you!

Open to: Patient partners from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care, Surgical Department

Aim

The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols include all aspects of surgical flow including pre-op, intra-op and post-op. The ultimate goal is to improve surgical outcome for patients including decreasing adverse events, decreasing length of hospital stay and speeding up the recovery process. Patient partners will be active partners in decision making, participate in evaluating current systems, identifying problems, developing strategies for improvements and creating educational materials.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). The promise to you is that the health care partner will work with you to ensure that your ideas and concerns are reflected in recommendations and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

  • Surgical experience as a patient, family member or informal caregiver is preferred.
  • Comfortable sharing patient experiences in a group setting.
  • Experience working with groups.
  • Patients should have previously attended a PVN orientation session and signed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation but are interested, please contact the Engagement Leader directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 2
  • The committee meets on the third Thursday of every month at St. Paul’s Hospital at 7:00 am. Meetings are typically up to 2 hours.
  • Between meetings patients will be asked to provide feedback or work on documents exchanged via email.
  • Participation on the committee will be for one year.

Reimbursement

Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, parking up to $18/day, approved mileage) to attend the session will be reimbursed by Providence Health Care.

Background

There is a growing body of evidence and interest within the global surgical world to suggest that implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols has been found to optimize, enhance, and hasten recovery. Click here for more information. The Providence Health Care ERAS committee members include surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists and information technologists.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca

 

From Our Community

Karla Warkotsch

Patient Experience Consultant – Interior Health

Karla Warkotsch

The question I like to ask health care employees is ‘Who is this for?’ and ‘Do we have the right people at the table?’ As a health care employee, I see how easy it is to fall into doing for, rather than doing with patients. The voices of the patient, family and caregiver are essential to ensure the patient is central to the direction and focus of the work being done.

Members of the BCPSQC pose for a team photo at the Quality Forum 2019.

Health Quality BC administers the Patient Voices Network. Using evidence-informed strategies, the Council shifts culture, improves clinical practice and advances person- and family-centred care to support high-quality care for every person in our province.