Patient advisory council created at St. Joseph’s Hospital

London Community News

The experience and opinions of patients are now playing an integral role in shaping care and services at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London with the creation of a patient advisory council. The St. Joseph’s Hospital Patient Advisory Council is providing an official voice for patients and their families to ensure they are the focus of health care delivery and ongoing strategic planning at St. Joseph’s Hospital. “Engaging our patients and listening to what they have to say is a priority for St. Joseph’s Health Care London,” explained Karen Perkin, vice-president acute and ambulatory, professional practice/chief nurse executive, in a news release. “While patient and family councils have been in place for years at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Hospital and Regional Mental Health Care London and St. Thomas, the ambulatory care nature of most of our programs at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and the broad scope of those programs, has posed a challenge. “This new council provides a forum for engaging our ambulatory care patients in a meaningful way.” Through the council, leaders at St. Joseph’s Hospital will receive input and recommendations for consideration in planning, hear concerns for ongoing quality improvement and gauge public opinion on new initiatives or changes to services. Patients taking part represent the wide range of care at St. Joseph’s Hospital — ambulatory medicine, chronic disease management, short-stay surgery, primary care — with some members receiving care from multiple programs. They also represent patients with accessibility challenges and different cultural backgrounds. “I believe that the most effective and responsive health care will be achieved by partnership between providers and communities, so it’s very exciting to have the opportunity to contribute,” said council member Martha Joyce, a patient of St. Joseph’s Rheumatology Centre. The creation of the council comes at a pivotal time in the history of St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is redefining what it means to be a hospital. With health care restructuring in London, the hospital has evolved to specialize in day and short-stay surgery and ambulatory treatment of complex medical and chronic disease. Interdisciplinary teams provide comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, treatment and follow up care for eye disease, rheumatic diseases, urological and gynecological disorders, diabetes, chronic pain, osteoporosis, hand and upper limb injuries, disorders of the ear, nose and throat, lung disease, sexual assault and domestic violence, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, breast abnormalities and more. Council members remain on the council for one to two years and meet quarterly with St. Joseph’s Hospital leaders.