To help support successful and meaningful partnerships, this “Patient Partner Commitments” outlines the support you can expect from the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council (the Council) team that administers PVN, as well as your responsibilities as a patient partner. The health care organizations that are responsible for leading the engagement opportunities that are supported through PVN also have their own “Health Care Partner Commitments” too!
Please review and electronically submit this document (below) as part of your sign up to become a patient partner with PVN.
The Council, through its administration of PVN, will*:
- Treat you with fairness, courtesy, dignity and respect;
- Offer you opportunities for engagement;
- Keep you informed through newsletters, the website and social media;
- Provide you with sound guidance, orientation and opportunities for skills development;
- Show appreciation for your efforts; and
- Strive for you to feel safe and supported.
*Adapted from Self-Management BC’s Program Leader Handbook
As a patient partner, I will*:
- Work with others and treat them with fairness, courtesy, dignity and respect.
- Discuss any conflicts of interest with the health care partner or Council staff.
- Follow through on my commitments on engagement opportunities. If I am not able to meet a commitment, I will notify the health care partner or Council staff as soon as possible.
- Review and follow the Volunteer Management Process (see below)
For confidentiality, I will:
- Respect the privacy of patient and health care partners.
- Consider all information about health care and patient partners I learn or obtain through engagement opportunities as confidential.
- Not tell, show, copy, sell, change or disclose any information without prior permission.
- Take all reasonable measures to secure information and dispose of it, when necessary.
- Seek support from the Council and/or the health care partner if I have any questions.
- Be aware that health care organizations may have their own confidentiality agreements to sign.
- Maintain confidentiality of all information obtained as a patient partner, if I leave.
The BC Patient Safety & Quality Council will collect personal information under section 26 (c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes of operating the Patient Voices Network. If you have any questions about the disclosure of your personal information please contact: Tammy Hoefer, Director, Patient & Public Engagement, BC Patient Safety & Quality Council, 201-750 West Pender St., Vancouver, BC, or via telephone at 1.877.282.1919
Click here for a copy of the Patient Partner Commitments Form that you can save or print.
Volunteer Management Process
Purpose:
The Council is here to help you be successful in your commitments as a patient partner. If needed, we will guide PVN patient partners through a staged process to review and address concerns if they are raised. The removal of a patient partner from PVN is a last resort and would only occur if stages one to three were not successful.
All process documents created during these stages will be provided to the patient partner and stored in the PVN database. Please note that health care partners may also choose to follow this process within the individual engagement opportunities they lead. However, they may have other processes specific to their organization that they choose to follow instead.
Stage One: Informal Discussion
An informal discussion between the patient partner, Council (PVN) staff and, if appropriate, a health care partner(s), to respectfully review concerns and co-create solutions.
Stage Two: Formal Meeting
A formal meeting between the patient partner (can invite a family member or friend if desired) Council staff and, if appropriate, a health care partner(s). The outcome of this meeting will be a signed decision agreement outlining the shared expectations.
Stage Three: Supportive Action Planning
If the decision agreement is not successful, the next step is the creation of a supportive action plan outlining the background of the issue, previous solution efforts, as well as new actions and timelines requested.
Stage Four: Removal from PVN
If stage three is not successful, the patient partner will be advised of their removal as a member of PVN.
Special Circumstances
There are a few special circumstances in which someone may be immediately removed as a member of PVN. In the very rare case that any of the following occur, stages one to three will be by-passed:
• Lying or falsifying information on official forms related to your participation through PVN;
• Engaging in any form of harassment, discrimination, physical or verbal abuse of other patient partners, health care partners or Council (PVN) staff;
• Stealing or purposely misusing PVN or health care partner money, property or materials; or
• Illegal, violent or unsafe acts.
