Posted
Closed
Commitment: Short-term
Connection method: Virtual
Open to Provincial Region
Posted
Volunteer Opportunity
Have you had to wait for a gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy or surgical procedure in BC? The Ministry of Health wants to hear feedback from patients, family members or caregivers, on a draft “patient notification” letter that will inform people they’ve been waitlisted for a GI endoscopy or surgical procedure – including an estimated wait time. Help ensure the letter includes the information that matters most to people waiting for a procedure!
Lead Organization/Department
BC Ministry of Health, Surgical Renewal
Aim
To hear from patient partners what information they would want to be notified of while waiting for a scheduled procedure (GI endoscopy or surgery). Patient partners will be asked to review a draft “Patient Notification” letter and provide feedback on what is stated in the letter and what is potentially missing. This engagement will contribute to work being led by the BC Ministry of Health to improve waitlist management and patient experiences while waiting for a scheduled GI endoscopy or surgical procedure.
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
Open to patient partners across the province who have previous personal experience waiting for a GI endoscopy or surgical procedure in BC, or family member/caregiver experience. Examples of a gastro-intestinal endoscopy procedure include a colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and flexible sigmoidoscopy.
If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed sign up with PVN, are unsure if your experience is a good fit, or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Chelsea Hochfilzer chochfilzer@bcpsqc.ca.
Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 5
• Date and Time: One meeting to occur virtually in mid-June, for 1.5 hours on a weekday (specific date and time to be determined based on patient partners’ availabilities). The first 30 minutes will include an overview of the new provincial Waitlist Management Policy and how it informs the proposed Patient Notification Letter. The remaining hour will be optional for participants; this will be a focus group to share feedback. Those that choose not to participate in the focus group may provide their feedback via email instead.
• Location: The meeting will take place virtually on Zoom (with option to provide feedback via Zoom during the focus group or by email)
• Commitment: One time
Reimbursement
No out of pocket expenses are anticipated for this engagement opportunity. However, if you meet the eligibility criteria, but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Chelsea Hochfilzer chochfilzer@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.
Background
The BC Ministry of Health, in collaboration with numerous interested parties including patient partners, recently developed policies to support health authorities in effective waitlist management and improving patient experience while waiting for a scheduled endoscopy or surgery. Communicating with patients is a key component, therefore, a “Patient Notification” strategy was incorporated into the policies and this engagement is a part of that work.
They want to ensure that they are meeting the needs of BC patients while they wait for surgery/gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy. Currently, there are a number of additional groups that are contributing to this effort, including two key committees that include patient partner members.
Copies of the surgical and endoscopy policies will be shared, alongside the proposed patient notification letter, to selected patient partners. All patient partner participants will remain anonymous outside of the focus group and no risks to participating have been identified.
