LHIN Visits and Town Hall Talks
Every time I tell someone about my role as the Chair of the Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council (MPFAC), I clarify that I am not the ‘voice of patients and families’ (as I’ve been referred to). I see myself as being in the fortunate and important position of sharing as much as I can with as many people as I can, both within and outside the Ministry. I am there to facilitate patients and families being involved wherever possible in healthcare decision making.
Recently I had the chance to join the Deputy (sorry, Bob…he dislikes being called ‘Deputy’), at two ‘Town Hall’ events for Ministry staff. It was a great opportunity to introduce myself, my role in highlighting the importance of patient engagement at the Ministry, and how we (myself along with the patient engagement team at the Ministry) are working hard to support the Ministry program and policy areas to embed patient advisors into the work they do. This is important to ensure that the lived and living experience of patients and families — from many different areas of our healthcare system — are part of policy and program design at the Ministry.
It’s been wonderful to meet so many people working to support, maintain, and improve the healthcare system in Ontario. I can assure you, they work very hard for all of us, and they want to hear from us.
What’s been equally great is getting to know the leaders of the 16 Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) across the province. I am fortunate to have met many — if not all — of the LHIN CEOs and many of their senior staff. I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting some of the LHINs in person to learn about programs that are specific to their regions that are supporting patients and families. I’ve also met with the LHIN Patient and Family Advisory Committees that have been in place since mid-fall — and in many instances much longer as PFACs that are long standing in some LHINs.
There are many impressive people working to support patient engagement across the LHINs, and many people who have stepped up to offer their experiences with the healthcare system as part of the LHIN PFACs. It is not lost on me how much time they put into these roles, and the valuable knowledge they are sharing to help shape a healthcare system, programs and policies that are more responsive to and reflective of the needs of patients and families across Ontario.
I’m very grateful to the warm welcome I’ve received from the Waterloo Wellington LHIN and the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN.
In Waterloo Wellington, it was wonderful to meet with the PFAC of a local cancer care clinic and hear about their activities and leadership; to learn about a wonderful e-referral pilot that will allow both patients and doctors to track referrals (no Fax!) — now being piloted across 6 LHINs; and, to hear about a novel mental health clinic that supports ‘walk in’ clients. Imagine that type of access to mental health care for a moment.
At the HHNB LHIN we were welcome by the Chief Eric Girt and learned about the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team in collaboration with St.Joseph’s Healthcare.
It’s and incredible program where mental health professionals and health system navigators work with police to better support persons who are suffering a mental health crisis in the community. We also met with Dr.Kevin Smith who is leading a ‘continuity of care’/bundled care program that follows patients in a more holistic way from surgery, to hospital, to home care in a comprehensive way (working as a team rather than silos). It’s all impressive work — and the first question that comes to mind is “Why aren’t we doing more of this?”
I’m not sure we fear innovation in Ontario, but we might fear risk . It’s also possible it’s a bit of inertia because it requires a new way of delivering healthcare and it comes with the need for resources (otherwise known as ‘money’). We also want measures and metrics and sureness that these programs are ‘what will work’. However, as we wait for measures and metrics, and determine how we can better scale up these types of programs, they are showing true promise and clear impacts. Let’s scale these up! Let’s share them widely across the province (and beyond). Our healthcare system needs innovation and programs that are more responsive to the needs of patients and families, i.e. meeting them where they are, providing access, compassionate, inclusive, allow for better coordination and care continuity etc. I can tell you from speaking to the leaders who have developed these programs, it has made their work easier and makes them feel better about how they are serving clients/patients/families.
I’m looking forward to sharing more about what is happening across our province. I hope you share these stories with the people you engage with across the healthcare system in Ontario too.
Best,
Julie
