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Because your voice matters.

Patient Advisor, Patient Care Quality Office

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Open to Vancouver Island Region, Patient partners in the Island Health region

Last updated

Are you passionate about improving how Island Health responds to patient feedback? Are you a past or present patient or family member of Island Health? Would you like to help us improve the services offered by the Patient Care Quality Office for patients and families like yours? If you answered yes to any of these, then this is the role for you!

Open to: Patient partners in the Island Health region

Lead Organization or Department

Patient Safety, Island Health

Aim

Island Health’s Patient Care Quality Office (PCQO) is looking for patient advisors to join a group of fellow patients helping to make improvements to their services and to inform their key strategic goals and initiatives for 2019-2021. This is an exciting opportunity to share your experience and expertise to promote improved services and processes for patients and families who access Island Health's service.

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 across the Island Health region
  • Experience (personal or family) with the health care system
  • May have accessed the services provided by the Patient Care Quality Office, or similar patient feedback service
  • Brings an enthusiastic patient voice to the team and can critically assess systems and process
  • Experience in customer service, letter writing, and complaint management are considered an asset, but not required
  • Please note:
    • This opportunity is not open to patient partners who are currently employed by Island Health
    • The placement process for this opportunity may include a conversation between the volunteer and the health care partner.
    • Applicants who have not attended a PVN orientation session and completed the Volunteer Agreement, please contact Ashley Clark directly to make accommodations.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 6
  • Date/time: TBD (please note: we would be pleased to offer meetings during evenings and weekend hours to support those patients who cannot attend during regular working hours)
  • Location: Royal Jubilee Hospital, with options for videoconferencing across Vancouver Island
  • Commitment:
    • A thorough 4-hour orientation at the beginning of the term to learn about PCQO processes and services
    • Monthly 2 hour meetings to follow with approximately 2 hours of additional work outside of meetings
    • 18-month term beginning May 1

Reimbursement

Pre-approved expenses related to travel to in-person meetings will be reimbursed according to the Island Health Travel policy (including mileage, parking, tolls and/or public transit).

Background

The Island Health Patient Care Quality Office (PCQO) is a Ministry of Health legislative process to capture and respond to care compliments and concerns received from patients and their families. Over the past three years, the PCQO has been engaged in a number of improvement initiatives aimed at developing the services we offer to patients and their families. The PCQO has made a number of improvements to date, but as they continue to implement these improvements, we recognize the need to ensure the changes are informed and driven by PCQO clients. The PCQO receives and provides oversight for the management and processing of care concerns and compliments within Island Health in accordance with the Patient Care Quality Review Board Act. Their office receives approximately 2800 contacts from patients, family members and representatives each year, and works closely with clients and with their clinical teams to share feedback from care experiences that inform and support important quality improvement work where services are delivered. Your help is needed to ensure that they are accurately responding to the needs of patients, their families, and the community. Purpose of engaging patients partners in this work The PCQO believes that the patient, family and community experience is key to informing the work they do and service they deliver. By engaging patient advisors they hope to draw on the unique perspectives and knowledge of patients, their families and their communities of support. By participating as a patient advisor you will help  ensure that the patient voice and experience is fully integrated into the work they do and their future planning. Role of patient partners The patient advisors will be provided with an in-depth orientation to the PCQO, their team, their work and their processes. As the PCQO is a legislative process, it is important that patient advisors understand this process to better inform their decision making. Once oriented to the work, advisors will be asked to participate and advise on a number of items which may include, but are not limited to:
  • Informing PCQO patient and family educational materials;
  • Providing feedback on existing PCQO processes for improvement;
  • Help them better understand what patients and families are looking for in an empathetic response;
  • Review PCQO data to identify opportunities to improve how they collect information and what is collected; and
  • Participate in PCQO interview processes and orientation of new PCQO staff members.
Please note that this role will not, at this time, be providing input into health system improvements to clinical service delivery.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Ashley Clark
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
250.812.8908
aclark@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Agnes Black

Director, Health Services & Clinical Research and Knowledge Translation – Providence Health Care

Agnes Black

It’s really hard to make changes in health care. When a PVN patient partner says, ‘This is important to us’ it keeps us grounded on why a change is needed and keeps us motivated to keep going on projects.