Patient Ombudsman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Patient Ombudsman (French: Ombudsman des patients) is an ombudsman office which acts as a neutral body of last resort for complaints about the healthcare system in Ontario, Canada. The Patient Ombudsman has jurisdiction over public hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as home and community care formerly coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), now under Ontario Health since 2019.
- 393 University Ave., Suite 1801, Toronto, Ontario
| Ombudsman des patients | |
| |
| Office overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 15 December 2015[1] |
| Type | Ombudsman |
| Jurisdiction | Public hospitals, long-term care homes, and home and community care coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks |
| Headquarters |
|
| Motto | "Every experience matters"[2] |
Office executives |
|
Parent Office | Ontario Health (agency) |
Key document | |
| Website | patientombudsman |
The position was created in 2015 through amendments to the Excellent Care for All Act, 2010.[3] In the office's first year, it received 2,000 complaints. The bulk of complaints were about Ontario's hospitals.[4][5][6] The office received 2,300 complaints in its second year of operations. In 2023 the mandate of the Patient Ombudsman was expanded to include Community Surgical and Diagnostic Centres.[7][8]
Parent agency
Unlike the Ontario Ombudsman, the Patient Ombudsman is not an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario; The Patient Ombudsman's office was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health's advisory agency Health Quality Ontario.[9] When Health Quality Ontario was transferred to the new agency Ontario Health,[10] the patient ombudsman was transferred with it.
COVID-19
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Ombudsman Cathy Fooks released a series of recommendations to deal with the pandemic in long-term care homes, such as better whistle-blower protections, communications and visitation systems.[11]
The recommendations were:
- Backstops and contingency plans for all health care providers
- A change in approach to visitation
- Dedicated resources for communication
- Enhanced whistleblower protection[12][13][14]
List of Patient Ombudspersons
- Christine Elliott (1 July 2016 – 1 February 2018)[1][6][15]
- Craig Thompson (1 February 2018 – 12 July 2020), executive director managing day-to-day operations[16]
- Cathy Fooks (13 July 2020 - December 2020), died in an accident shortly after appointment[17][18][11]
- Craig Thompson (29 March 2021 – present)[19]