Patient Partner, Quality Councils (multiple)

If you are a thoughtful communicator who is willing to use your experience to contribute to a high-level decision-focused discussions on quality improvement, this is for you! Patient partners are needed to join senior leaders as members of Island Health’s Quality Councils, which work to identify the best way to deliver care using current evidence, address gaps in care & support implementation of improvement to care.  There are currently vacancies on five Quality Councils…maybe one is just right for you!

Open to: Patient partners across Island Health

Lead Organization or Department

Island Health — Quality, Safety and Improvement

Aim

Island Health’s 23 Quality Councils (QCs) meet regularly to approve new standards of care, review adverse patient events, identify improvements and celebrate successes. These councils provide the structure to address quality matters and improve the care we provide. There are currently vacancies on 5 Quality Councils (see descriptions and council-specific eligibility requirements below). Patient partners will be invited to draw upon their experience(s) of care and community knowledge to contribute to decision-focused discussions at meetings. The patient partners’ role is to help QC teams better understand and consider the perspectives of patients, families, and communities, and to ensure that those priorities are reflected in the Council’s decisions.

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

Each patient partner should have the follow qualities but there are council-specific eligibility criteria in the Background section.

• Have experience of health services within Island Health (as a patient, family member or informal caregiver);
• Comfortable sharing patient experiences in a group setting for the purposes of learning and quality improvement;
• A skilled listener who is respectful of a broad range of views;
• Previous experience as part of committee or quality improvement project is an asset, but is not required; and
• Links to other agencies, networks or communities to inform a broad perspective is an asset, but is not required.

Please note: this opportunity is not open to individuals who are currently employed by Island Health. Applicants should have previously attended a PVN orientation session and completed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation session but you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Kira Tozer directly to see if accommodations may be possible. The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the patient partner and the Quality Council chairs. Selected patient partners will be asked to attend a Quality Structures orientation session with the Island Health Quality & Safety team, prior to joining their councils (date TBD, likely late August or early September).

Logistics

Number of vacancies: 9 positions across 5 Quality Councils (see Background section) Date/Time/Location: Most committees meet on a monthly or quarterly basis, typically for 1-2 hours, the longest being 4 hours. Attendance via teleconference or videoconference from an Island Health facility is often possible, though in-person attendance is preferred. Commitment: In addition to attendance at regularly scheduled meetings, patient partners will be asked to review meeting materials prior to meetings (anticipated time to review: 1-2 hours). Patient Partners are also invited and encouraged to attend regularly scheduled Quality Improvement Training Sessions with other QC patient partners, facilitated by the Island Health Quality & Safety team, to learn new skills and competencies related to QC work. Term: 1 year with the possibility of extension.

Reimbursement

Pre-approved out-of-pocket expenses to participate in meetings such as mileage, parking and public transit will be reimbursed by Island Health.

Background

There are a total of 23 Quality Councils within Island Health, which includes program-specific councils (e.g. surgery, medicine, public health) and 4 Geographic Quality Councils  that implement standards across the health authority. More information on Island Health’s Quality Structures is available on their website. Current Vacancies: Child Youth and Family/Child and Youth Mental Health & Substance Use Quality Council

• Description: The scope of responsibility for this council includes: Obstetrics and Perinatal services at Victoria General Hospital and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital; Acute Pediatrics Victoria General Hospital and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital; Child Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Services across Island Health; Child Development and Rehabilitation Services – Greater Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands.The Council is co-chaired by Child Youth and Family Director and Quality Lead, and includes membership from staff within the CYF and CYMHSU programs.
• Vacancies: 1 new (1 patient partner already on council)
• Meeting Frequency & Location:  9-10:30 AM on the 3^rd Thursday of every month, at Victoria General Hospital.
• Unique Eligibility Criteria: Patients (or guardians) who have recent experience with one or more of the program areas.

Geography 1 (North Island: Courtney, Campbell River, Vancouver Island North & West, etc)

• Description: The Geography 1 Quality Council addresses the needs of people, sites and services within and around the Courtenay, Campbell River & Vancouver Island north areas.  The 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 Executive Director and Executive Medical Director and includes clinicians, managers, and representation from the quality and patient safety portfolio, as well as community-based clinicians and administrators.
• Vacancies: 2
• Meeting Frequency & Location: Last Friday of the month, from 9am-1pm, at the Comox Valley Hospital, and various locations throughout the Geography, via videoconference and teleconference.
• Unique Eligibility Criteria: Patients or family partners who live in and have experience of health services in Geography 1.

Laboratory Services

• Description:  Island Health’s Laboratory Services are used by hospital inpatients and outpatients and may include specimen pickup/collection, and testing of samples. The Council provides organizational and medical guidance in quality planning; monitoring and evaluation of clinical outcomes; approving new policies, programs guidelines and clinical order sets; and setting Island-wide expectations/standards for Laboratory Services. The Council is co-chaired by the Administrative Director and Medical Director of Laboratory Services and includes clinicians, administrators for each geography, patient partners, and a representative from the quality and patient safety portfolio.
• Vacancies: 2
• Meeting Frequency & Location:  Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every other month from 9:00-10:30am at the Royal Jubilee Hospital (Victoria).
• Unique Eligibility Criteria:  Experience accessing laboratory services as a patient, family member, or caregiver. Some familiarity and interest in understanding data would be an asset.

Quality Operations Committee

• Description: The Quality Operations Council brings together the co-chairs of Island Health’s quality councils to discuss and make decisions about the quality of care we provide. The Quality Operations Council provides leadership, oversight and evaluation of quality matters with a focus on: commitment to high standards of care; clear and transparent accountability for those standards; and dynamic of continuous quality improvement. This Council considers cross-program, regional policies and other standards, and addresses matters of organizational clinical quality. This includes understanding and learning from patient safety events and feedback from our patients and clients. The Council is co-chaired the director and medical director from the Quality.
• Vacancies: 2
• Meeting Frequency & Location: Meetings are held on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month from 7:30-9:20 am. Meetings are lead from the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and connect via videoconference to various Island Health sites.  Patient partners outside of Greater Victoria can attend the meeting via videoconference from another Island Health facility.
• Unique Eligibility Criteria-We are seeking 1 patient partner who lives in Geography 3 (Cowichan Valley, Saanich, Gulf Islands) and another who lives in Geography 4 (Greater Victoria, Sooke)

Therapeutic Stewardship and Safety Quality Council

• Description: The Therapeutic Stewardship and Safety Quality Council (TSSQC) is a multi-disciplinary council reporting to the Quality Operations Council and secondarily to HAMQC/ HAMAC for all issues, policy, and formulary management topics relating to Island Health’s Medication services.  The council completes its work using several sub-committees and holds seats on the BC Health Authority Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee.    The Council is co-chaired by the Director of Pharmacy, Medical Director of Pharmacy and the Director of Medication Safety and includes membership from multiple divisions of medical practice, nursing, medication safety, patient advisors, clinical informatics and pharmacy clinical and operational services.
• Vacancies: 2
• Meeting Frequency & Location: Meetings are held in Victoria with both voice and video links across the region.  The Council meets 5-6 times annually with the next meeting scheduled for September 20, 2018.
• Unique Eligibility Criteria: none

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Kira Tozer
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
250.888.4525
ktozer@bcpsqc.ca