Member, Patient Alliance for Patient Safety, Canadian Patient Safety Institute

Volunteer Opportunity
If patient safety is your passion, we want to hear from you. The BC Patient Safety & Quality Council (“the Council”) is seeking patient partners as members for a national alliance that focuses on improving the safety of patient care journeys.

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Lead Organization/Department
BC Patient Safety & Quality Council

Aim
The Council is looking for two patient partners to join the Patient Alliance for Patient Safety (“the Alliance”), alongside a staff member from the Council. The Alliance aims to develop a Canadian network of patient interest groups for whom patient safety is a priority. It works to identify, develop and evaluate strategies to address common safety issues and learns and grows as a community by sharing ideas, knowledge, practices and evidence.

There are two roles for the patient partner representatives. One patient partners’ primary role will be to participate in the standing bimonthly Alliance meetings and contribute to discussions. The second patient partner will join an Alliance project team, that will be co-designing a pilot public education program on patient safety. It is the hope that the two patient partners will support each other in terms of meeting attendance, so that if one rep is unavailable to attend a meeting, the other can step in on their behalf. Additional details on both the Alliance, and the public education program are noted below.

Level of Engagement
This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility
Open to patient partners from across the province who:
• Have an interest and understanding of patient safety
• Have an interest in patient safety, and/or knowledge & experience of unintended harm within the health care system (this would enhance the diverse perspective of the alliance but is not a requirement).
• Are comfortable working in large groups, via Zoom, sharing experiences & contributing to discussions.
• Are able to travel once a year to attend an in person meeting out of province (Note: this has not happened to date due to COVID-19, plans for future in person meetings are TBD and will only occur when safe to do so).
• Please note that the placement process may include an informal interview.

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 Kira Tozer.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 2
• Date and Time:
– Alliance Meetings: Two hour meetings are held every 1-2 months via Zoom. A Doodle Poll is sent out in advance to determine the date and time. There is potential for an in- person meeting once per year; however, this has not happened yet due to COVID-19, and there are currently no plans scheduled for one.
– Project Meetings: The meeting schedule and frequency has not yet been determined; however, two one-hour meetings per month is the current estimate for the first few months. Some email based communication may also be required between meetings. Start date is also TBD, late Fall 2021 is also probable.
• Location: Online
• Commitment: 12 months, with the option to extend as mutually agreed to by the patient partner and the Council

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 Kira Tozer ktozer@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.

If an in person meeting be scheduled in 2022 (location in Canada, TBD) costs associated with travel for patient partners would be reimbursed by supporting organizations.

Background

Patient Alliance for Patient Safety “the Alliance”
Since 2018, twenty patient interest groups and key stakeholders set the foundation for the Patient Alliance for Patient Safety under the leadership of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. BCPSQC has participated from the outset, including a patient partner representative who has recently completed their term.

The purpose of the Alliance is to improve the safety of care through collaboration. Patient safety is a critical aspect of care and patient, family and citizen engagement at all levels of the system is a vital force for improvement.  The collective effort of the Alliance has the potential to accelerate safety improvements.

The common patient safety issue the Alliance will address is improving the safety of care journeys through public engagement. The specific goal is to increase the number of people who:
• Know that there is a crisis of unintended harm in healthcare by understanding the potential risk factors, who is most vulnerable, how harm happens, and how it can be prevented; and
• Are taking action to advance safer care journeys by asking questions that reduce risk of harm, advocating for their own and others’ safety, and reporting incidents and risks which helps to increase transparency about safety, learn and improve

Membership in the Alliance is open to any interested Partner that agrees to the Charter. Two individuals represent each Partner, at least one of which must be a patient. Patients for Patient Safety Canada facilitates this collective effort and all Partners have equal power in decision-making.

For more information on the Alliance PLEASE CLICK HERE

Project: Improving the Safety of Care Journeys – a citizen action program

In the Fall of 2021, a project was proposed by one of the Alliance partners, the Centre of Excellence on Partnership with Patients and the Public (CEPPP) of the Université de Montréal (UdeM), to collaborate on the development of a public education program on patient safety. The goal of the program is that Canadians have the competencies needed to actively take action in improving the safety of care journeys by understanding, communication and being partners in care. The proposed project has 3 phases spanning 3 years. The first phase in year 1 is to identify core safety issues and skills/competencies for inclusion in the program, and then develop and pilot learning modules.   The project team has not yet been assembled, but will include one staff representative and one patient partner representative from the Alliance partnership organizations. CEPPP will take on a coordination and project management role for the group.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Kira Tozer
Leader, Strategic Initiatives | Patient & Public Engagement
778.677.1167
ktozer@bcpsqc.ca