Patient Partner, Rural and Remote Quality Council, Island Health

Island Health’s Rural and Remote Quality Council is seeking patient partners to join their team to help ensure the patient voice is represented when quality initiatives are discussed and decisions are made. If you live in a rural or remote  area, read on and learn how you can get involved!

Open to: Patient partners living within rural and remote areas of the Vancouver Island health region

Lead Organization or Department

Island Health - Rural and Remote Services

Aim

The Rural and Remote Quality Council is part of a group of Island Health quality councils that are responsible to set and meet high standards of care and to maintain a continuous commitment to quality improvement. Patient partners will be invited to draw upon their experiences of care and community knowledge to provide feedback on items discussed at Council meetings. This will assist the Council to better understand and consider the perspectives of patients and families, and to ensure that decisions and priorities reflect the needs and goals of patients and communities we serve.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.

Eligibility

• Patients partners who live in and have experience of health services in rural and remote areas in Geography 1 and 2. Island examples includes Denman/Hornby; Quadra/Cortes; Malcolm etc. Rural/remote communities of Tahsis, Zeballos, Gold River, Sayward,  Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Port Renfrew, Tofino and Ucluelet.
• Comfortable participating in committee and working group settings, including sharing lived experiences to assist the group to understand the impact of a decision on patients, families and the public.
• Please note that current Island Health employees are not eligible for this opportunity.
• Comfort with teleconference meetings and in-person meetings if/when required.
• If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Volunteer Agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Ryan Sidorchuk directly.
• The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the volunteer and the health care partner.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 2
• Date and time: Meetings are usually held the third Tuesday on a bi-monthly basis, between 8:00am-9:30am. The next meeting will be held in March.
• Location: Meetings will be held by teleconference.
• Term: 1 year with the possibility of extension.
• Time commitment: Attendance at bi-monthly meetings lasting no more than 2 hours.
• Materials will be provided one week prior to each meeting and should be reviewed in advance in order to contribute to the facilitated, decision-focused discussions. Review of meeting materials may take approximately 1 to 2 hours.

Reimbursement

Pre-approved mileage and parking will be reimbursed, as well as pre-approved transit expenses such as bus fare when required.

Background

Quality at Island Health means dedication to improving the care, safety and experience of patients and staff every day. This can mean integrating new procedures into clinical processes, reviewing and acting upon safety measures related to patient falls or surgical site infections, or supporting the sharing of really great quality improvement ideas across sites. To help us coordinate our efforts and move forward in these areas, we have a number of councils responsible for stewarding quality and safety in the organization. The quality councils meet regularly to approve new policies and procedures, review adverse patient events, and monitor our progress in achieving care delivery expectations set by the Ministry of Health, professional colleges and the federal government. Our quality councils have the accountability to oversee how we are meeting our quality of care expectations and to identify and act on opportunities to do better. Island Health recognizes people are better served when planning and decisions are made with the needs of local communities in mind. The Rural and Remote Quality Council monitors service delivery, identifies improvement priorities and sets standards to ensure quality of care across the care continuum of hospital and community based services. The Council is co-chaired by the Administrative Director and Medical Director and includes clinicians, managers, patient partners, and representation from the quality and patient safety portfolio, as well as community-based clinicians and administrators.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Ryan Sidorchuk
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Central & North Vancouver Island
250.951.4850
rsidorchuk@bcpsqc.ca