Patient & Family Advisory Council
Engaging patients and families through the use of a Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is a strategy hospitals across the country are utilizing to improve the quality of care, safety and patient experiences. The insights in which these individuals can provide offer a fresh perspective and can add significant value as quality improvement partners.
Patient and family engagement takes away the need for staff to make assumptions about what patients value and how they and their families can contribute. In turn, this leads to improvements in the overall patient experience. The hospital’s PFAC has been in existence since 2012 and holds meetings on a bi-monthly basis.
PFAC provides patients and families an excellent opportunity and environment where concerns, ideas, values, and needs can be heard and discussed with hospital administration and staff. The hospital has many avenues in place to provide feedback such as surveys’ and post discharge phone calls and now with the PFAC, patients and families can have a two way dialogue to add even more value and effect positive change.
The hospital is very proud to say that the PFAC have played a significant contributing role to a number of initiatives. Examples of areas that the PFAC has contributed to include: improving hospital signage and wayfinding; recommending the introduction of white boards in emergency and inpatient rooms; providing recommendations on food quality and menu planning; developing the Patient and Family Information Handbook and Patient Code of Conduct; and selecting new bedside curtains and window covers for inpatient rooms.
“I was very much impressed by Arnprior Regional Health’s commitment to integrating the patient experience into their care process,” said Anthony Dale, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association. “We know that better engagement of patients and their families leads to higher quality care. It is also a government priority and a key component of the current transformation underway.”
The hospital is committed to engaging the community and understands how critical of a role the patient’s voice has in the provision of effective health care. Receiving recognition from the Ontario Hospital Association reaffirms this position and demonstrates that the hospital is in fact moving in the right direction.
For more information, please contact Raeline McGrath, CNE at 613-623-3166 ext. 237 or [email protected]
Application form PFAC Application Form2017