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Because your voice matters.

Participant, Health Sector Statutes Repeal Act Focus Group

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Open to Provincial Region, Patient partners across the province

Last updated

Do you have an interest in labour relations, legislation and quality improvement? An exciting opportunity exists to help shape the future of how non-clinical health services are delivered in British Columbia as we work to introduce a new bill in the spring.

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

Ministry of Health, Health Human Resources and Labour Relations Division

Aim

We are looking for patient partners across the province to have a conversation with us regarding considerations from the patient perspective when we implement the Health Sector Statutes Repeal Act (Bill 47). Bill 47 was passed in November 2018 and will repeal two existing bills: the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act (Bill 29) and the Health Sector Partnerships Agreement Act (Bill 94). Patient voices will help gather a perspective on opportunities for improvement as well as identify what principles are important to consider as Bill 47 is brought into force later this year. The focus of all these bills is on the work of health care employees in non-clinical but essential services such as parking, food services, laundry and security.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

  • Experience with the health care system, either hospital setting and/or community care services such as residential care

Logistics

Vacancies: 50 Time, Date, Location: The webinar session will be 1-2 hours on February 21, 2019. The exact time will be determined at a later date. Commitment: One-time focus group

Reimbursement

No expenses are anticipated.

Background

In the fall on 2018, the Minister of Health introduced legislation (Health Sector Statutes Repeal Act) to repeal two bills (29 and 94) that came into effect in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Bills 29 and 94 gave employers in the health care sector broad licence to lay off employees and restrict employment security in collective agreements with unions. As a result of these two bills, many health care workers involuntarily lost their jobs or saw reductions in compensation and working conditions when functions were contracted out. Advocates have long argued the Bill 29 and 94 created unfair working conditions that disproportionately impacted employees performing essential duties to quality patient care like laundry, food service, security, parking and housekeeping. The intent of repealing Bills 29 and 94 is to improve job security and stability and support employers in being better able to recruit and retain the skilled health care professionals needed to support better continuity in patient care. Repealing these bills removes the major financial incentive of contract flipping, resulting in contract flipping no longer being a viable option in most circumstances. Contract flipping — which occurs when contracted employees who unionize are laid off and replaced with workers under another contract — reduces or avoids unionized labour costs and can result in low-wage workers losing whatever protections they’ve gained through unionization. The Ministry of Health has made a commitment to working collaboratively to consult with unions, health authorities, for-profit /not-for-profit and denominational employers and other stakeholders to implement this repeal in a way that continues strengthening the publicly funded health care system.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Kathryn Proudfoot
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Provincial
604.668.8246
kproudfoot@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Layton Engwer

Patient Partner, Sooke

Layton Engwer

PVN helped empower me to make meaningful contributions to Primary Care (PC) locally and provincially.  It also facilitated creation of PC Patient Voices which is focused on PC and provides education support and building on shared experiences.