Quality health care is important to all of us at Northern Health. A new process in B.C. provides you with the opportunity to better resolve concerns and your feedback will further improve the quality of the health care system.
If you have a complaint, please first speak with the person who provided the service, or to the manager of the area. Complaints are best addressed and resolved at the time and place they occur. If we have not met your expectations, we are committed to working with you to find a reasonable solution.
What if my complaint is not resolved?
If your complaint remains unresolved after discussing the issue with the service area, we encourage you to contact our Patient Care Quality Office:
Patient Care Quality Office
6th floor 299 Victoria St
Prince George BC V2L 5B8
Toll-free: 1-877-677-7715
Fax: 250-565-2640
Email: patientcarequalityoffice@northernhealth.ca
The Patient Care Quality Office is open Monday to Friday (except statutory holidays) from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
What can I expect if I complain to the Patient Care Quality Office?
You can expect your complaint to be dealt with promptly and fairly. The Patient Care Quality Office will:
- Formally register your complaint
- Work with you to identify a reasonable resolution to your concern
- Provide you with a response to your complaint and an explanation about any decisions and actions taken as a result of your complaint
What happens once I register a complaint?
If you are calling on behalf of yourself, the Patient Care Quality Office will work with you to identify the issues you wish follow-up on and negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution to whatever the concerns may be.
If you are calling on behalf of a family member or other individual, you will be asked to have the individual the complaint is in reference to, contact us directly to ensure their perspective about the matter is understood and to confirm what follow-up they wish to occur. If they are unable to do so, you will be asked to provide proof of your authority to act on behalf of that individual and/or to receive feedback about that person’s care or service with Northern Health. This is done in order to protect the client’s privacy in accordance with Confidentiality policies and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Individuals within the health authority who are responsible for monitoring the quality of care provided by their respective programs will be asked to undertake an examination of the identified issues of concern. Once that is complete, a response will be provided directly to whomever has the authority to receive it, typically the individual the information is about, or with that person’s authorization, a third party such as a family member.
What if I am still not satisfied?
If you feel that the response from the Patient Care Quality Office has not addressed your concern contact the Patient Care Quality Review Board for an independent review. The Patient Care Quality Review Board is made up of people who live in your region and is independent of Northern Health.
Patient Care Quality Review Boards
PO Box 9643
Victoria BC V8W 9P1
Phone: 1-866-952-2448
Fax: 250-952-2428
Email: contact@patientcarequalityreviewboard.ca
Website: patientcarequalityreviewboard.ca