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Patient Ombudsman

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Patient Ombudsman
Ombudsman des patients
Office overview
Formed15 December 2015; 9 years ago (2015-12-15)[1]
TypeOmbudsman
JurisdictionPublic hospitals, long-term care homes, and home and community care coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks
Headquarters393 University Ave., Suite 1801, Toronto, Ontario
Motto"Every experience matters"[2]
Office executives
  • Craig Thompson, Patient Ombudsman
  • Michelle Rossi, Executive Director
Parent OfficeOntario Health (agency)
Key document
Websitewww.patientombudsman.ca

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 coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs).

The position was created in 2015 through amendments to the Excellent Care for All Act.[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

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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 went with it.

COVID-19

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Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Ombudsmen Cathy Fooks released a series of recommendations to deal with the pandemic in long-term care homes, such as better whistleblower protections, communications and visitation systems.[11]

The recommendations were:

  1. Backstops and contingency plans for all health care providers
  2. A change in approach to visitation
  3. Dedicated resources for communication
  4. Enhanced whistleblower protection[12][13]

[14]

List of Patient Ombudspersons

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  • 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]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ontario Selects Christine Elliott as First-Ever Patient Ombudsman". Province of Ontario. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. ^ Elliott, Christine. "Patient Ombudsman's Message - Patient Ombudsman". Toronto, ON: Office of the Patient Ombudsman. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. ^ Taylor, Paul (21 July 2016). "How can Ontario's new ombudsman address patient concerns?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  4. ^ Jeffords, Shawn (9 November 2017). "Ontario's Patient Ombudsman eyes improvements to health care". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  5. ^ Reevely, David (9 November 2017). "Reevely: Transitions between health providers are painful points for Ontario patients, ombudsman reports". Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  6. ^ a b Turl, Jeff (28 March 2017). "Patient Ombudsman visits North Bay hospital". North Bay, ON: BayToday. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Community Surgical and Diagnostic Centres". patientombudsman.ca. Office of the Patitent Ombudsman of Ontario. Archived from the original on 25 May 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  8. ^ Draaisma, Muriel. "Ontario's patient ombudsman sees record complaints in 2023-2024; quality of care, communication top concerns | CBC News". CBC. CBC. Archived from the original on 30 March 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  9. ^ Fitzpatrick, Meagan (4 December 2018). "Is Ontario's patient ombudsman next on the Ford government chopping block?". CBC News. Retrieved 2 June 2020. The patient ombudsman is not an independent officer of the legislature, however. It falls under Health Quality Ontario — a government agency that monitors quality in health care and provides advice to government and health care providers.
  10. ^ "1.03 Health Quality Ontario" (PDF). Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  11. ^ a b Tsekouras, Phil (31 December 2020). "Ontario announces death of Patient Ombudsman Cathy Fooks". CTV News. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. ^ Fooks, Cathy. "Honouring the voices and experiences of Long-Term Care Home residents, caregivers and staff during the first wave of COVID-19 in Ontario" (PDF). Office of the Patient Ombudsman of Ontario. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  13. ^ "Ontario's Patient Ombudsman seeks complaints about COVID-19 in care homes". The Independent Free Press. Georgetown, Ontario: Metroland. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Share via email Reddit X Share on Linkedin 'We must prevent what happened from happening again:' patient ombud on LTC homes". The Canadian Press. Toronto, ON: National Post. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 25 May 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  15. ^ Benzie, Robert; Ferguson, Rob (1 February 2018). "Former MPP Christine Elliott joins Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race, Caroline Mulroney to follow". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  16. ^ Baxter, Mary (28 April 2020). "What it's like at the patient ombudsman's office during COVID-19". TVO.org. Toronto, ON: TV Ontario. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Ontario government names Cathy Fooks as new patient ombudsman - CityNews Toronto". toronto.citynews.ca. Citytv. 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  18. ^ Jensen, David (11 June 2020). "Ontario Appoints New Patient Ombudsman - southwesthealthline.ca". www.southwesthealthline.ca. Southwest Healthline. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Order in Council 362/2021". www.ontario.ca. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
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