Opportunities for Patient Partnership

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Patient and Family Voices - Opportunities for Patient Partnership

Are you passionate about improving the quality of health and care services in your community? You may be interested in becoming a patient partner. 

Patient partners work directly with teams of healthcare leaders to improve the quality of care and services. Read below to learn about current opportunities and find out if patient partnership is a good fit for you.
If you are already familiar with patient partnership and want to express interest in participating, visit this page to share your contact information. 

What is patient partnership?

Patient Partnership means patients, clients, families, caregivers, communities, and health care providers work together to improve care and service in the health system. Island Health has been partnering with patients in decision making, quality improvement, research, and innovation since 2008.

Some benefits of patient partnership include: 

  • providing important insights for quality improvement
  • sharing patient partner perspectives with health care providers
  • ensuring the patient voice is in decisions that affect them
  • improving communication between patients and health care providers
  • creating meaningful changes to health care services

Partnership between patients and healthcare teams results in:

  • better experiences for patients, families and care providers
  • improved patient safety
  • better health outcomes
  • reduced healthcare costs
Who are patient partners? 

Patient partners are people that have lived experience as either a patient, family, friend, or caregiver and have an interest in health care improvement.They work with healthcare teams to:

  • share their health care experiences to inform decisions that affect patients and families
  • provide feedback and opinions on plans, strategies and policies
  • support improvement efforts in quality, research and innovation
What is the role of patient partners

The role of a patient partner is to work with Island Health staff and leaders toward a common goal of improving health and care.

Patient partners:

  • share knowledge from lived experience and learning to constructively partner in improving the big picture 
  • provide a patient and family member view point in decision-making
  • Build partnerships based on mutual respect and communication
  • Actively participate by sharing feedback, experiences and opinions 

Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of patient partners.

Is patient partnership a good fit for me?

Patient partnership can be a rewarding experience and within Island Health, it aims to create meaningful change within the health system through mutually respectful relationships. Patient partnership means working together to find solutions. We find strengths in each other’s opinions and learning from each other.  

We encourage you to complete this short self assessment to help you understand your readiness for partnership.

How do I prepare to be a good patient partner?

No special experience or knowledge is required to become a patient partner. Prior to starting, you will receive a general orientation to patient partnership (approximately 1.5 hours). This orientation will let you know what you can expect as a patient partner and cover topics such as privacy and confidentiality, cultural safety, and people-centred care. Before you start your journey as a council or committee member you will receive an orientation to the work specific to the work of the council/committee.

What are the current opportunities for Patient Partners? 

Patient partners volunteer their time in a wide range of areas and programs. It is important that patient partners are matched with the area that best aligns with their personal interest and experience. We are currently inviting patient partners to join the following committees and councils:

Cowichan District Hospital Acute Quality and Operational Excellence Committee
  • This committee makes decisions about how to improve the quality of care at the Cowichan District Hospital and make recommendations for regional improvements. 
  • Meeting frequency: Second Thursday of every month from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Format: These meetings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams. 
  • Time commitment: Approximately 3 hours a month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders if needed.

See the Acute Quality and Operational Excellence Committees Terms of Reference.

Community Services Quality and Operational Excellence Committee (multiple locations)
  • These committees make decisions about how to improve the quality of care across community-based services (eg: long-term care, public health and community health services) and make recommendations for regional improvements.
  • Opportunities: We are currently inviting patient partners to express interest in becoming a member of either the: Cowichan Valley Community Services Quality and Operational Excellence Committee or the Western Communities Community Services Quality and Operational Excellence Committee
  • Meeting frequency: see the meeting schedule. 
  • Format: These meetings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams.
  • Time commitment: Approximately 2.5 - 3 hours a month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders if needed. This is a long term engagement of 2 years.

See the Community Service Quality and Operational Excellence Committee Terms of Reference.

Consolidated Local Health Area (CLHA) Quality and Operational Excellence Council (multiple locations)
  • These councils identify and manage cross-continuum risks and issues (e.g., transitions of care, community growth) and enable integration and collaboration across all services in a community to improve the patient experience.
  • Opportunities: We are currently inviting patient partners to express interest in becoming a member of following CLHA Quality and Operational Excellence Councils: Greater Nanaimo & Oceanside; Cowichan Valley; Western Communities; Saanich Peninsula and Southern Gulf Islands 
  • Meeting frequency: see the meeting schedule. 
  • Format: These meetings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams.
  • Time commitment: Approximately 2 hours a month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders if needed. This is a long term engagement of 2 years.

See the CLHA Quality and Operational Excellence Council Terms of Reference.

Specialty Service Area Committees (multiple care areas)
  • These committees are responsible for monitoring and improving the quality of care within specialized services, including:
    - Trauma Services
    - Brain Health
    - Heart Health
    - Renal Health
  • Meeting frequency: see the meeting schedule. 
  • Format: These meetings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams.
  • Time commitment: Approximately 2 - 3 hours a month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders if needed. This is a long term engagement of 2 years.

See the Specialty Service Areas Terms of Reference.

Cross-Continuum Committees (multiple topics)
  • These committees are responsible for enabling systems that support all areas of care. These structures help align decision-making and ensure the application of best practices. Opportunities are available in the following committees:

Electronic Health Records and Clinical Informatics:

  • Responsible for the advancement and optimization of the electronic health record to support safe, quality care in alignment with organizational priorities. The committee provides oversight to all changes to the health record and recommends improvement priorities to address quality and adoption matters that pertain to the EHR. The committee is also responsible for receiving direction from provincial authorities for action as it relates to information management and system development and integration. 
  • Meeting frequency & format: Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month from 8 - 9 a.m. on Microsoft Teams
  • Time Commitment: Approximately 2 hours per month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders when needed. This is a long-term commitment of 2 years.

See the Electronic Health Records and Clinical Informatics Terms of Reference. 

Medication Systems

  • Responsible for medication systems and clinical practice related to medication therapy. The committee provides leadership in the design and advancement of medication systems to ensure the highest standard of safety. The Committee also serves as a linkage between the Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee (HAMAC) and the BC Health Authority Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee (BCHA P&TC).
  • Meeting frequency & format: Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month from 7:30 - 9 a.m. on Microsoft Teams
  • Time Commitment: Approximately 2.5 hours per month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders when needed. This is a long-term commitment of 2 years.

See the Medication Systems Terms of Reference.

Clinical Education

  • Responsible for clinical education plans against established parameters. Supports the refinement of clinical education plans and provides consultation for those undertaking clinical education. This committee is dedicated to advancing Island Health’s efforts in being a learning health system. 
  • Meeting frequency & format: Meetings are held on the second and last Tuesday of the month from 3:10 - 4:00 p.m. on Microsoft Teams
  • Time Commitment: Approximately 2 hours per month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders when needed. This is a long-term commitment of 2 years.

See the Clinical Education Terms of Reference.

Regulatory Scope of Practice

  • The purpose is to oversee and be accountable for all enterprise (organization) level regulatory and scope of practice decision-making. Responsible for providing input into and reviewing proposed changes to scope of practice for health professions and providing a recommendation to the Integrated Clinical Governance Council for approval. 
  • Meeting frequency & format: Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Microsoft Teams
  • Time Commitment: Approximately 2.5 hours per month. This includes time to review meeting materials and check in with meeting leaders when needed. This is a long-term commitment of 2 years.

See the Regulatory Scope of Practice Terms of Reference.

How does the partnering process work? 

If you would like to express interest in joining a quality improvement committee, please visit this page to share your contact information and your committee and council preferences.

A selection committee reviews applications. When reviewing the responses from patient partners and selecting members for the committees, diversity in lived/living experience, geography, and interests will be prioritized to ensure various perspectives, backgrounds, and interests are included.

All potential partners are informed about the outcome of the process. Training and orientation is provided. Committee chairs work closely with patient partners throughout the process. 

Questions?

If you have questions about the Local Level, Specialty Service Area committees, and/or Cross-Continuum committees or Clinical Governance in Island Health or want to find out more information about this opportunity to participate, please email patient.experience@islandhealth.ca or attend one of our two information sessions being held in July.

Information Sessions

Date: July 15, 2024
Time: 3 - 4 p.m.
Zoom Link

Date: July 16, 2024
Time: 9:30 -10:30 a.m. 
Zoom link