Position Summary

Who are we looking for?

Interior Health is looking for a permanent full time Aboriginal Patient Care Quality and Safety Consultant to join our Quality & Patient Safety team!

The worksite location for this position is flexible and can be located anywhere within the Interior Health Region.

How will you create an impact?

The Aboriginal Patient Care Quality and Safety Consultant provides leadership and expertise in patient safety and client concerns management to promote a culture of safety and patient-centered care across the organization in support of program priorities within Quality and Patient Safety and Aboriginal Health.

Reporting to the Director, Patient Safety, the Consultant supports Interior Health to establish and maintain effective relationships with patients, clients and residents with a specific focus towards Aboriginal peoples and their health and healthcare experiences.

This includes leading Quality Reviews and Patient Safety Investigations following serious adverse events, ensuring that avenues for Aboriginal patient, client or resident feedback are established and accessible, and ensuring that complaints, compliments and concerns are addressed in a timely, appropriate, and respectful manner. An important focus is on learning from clinical practice, specifically healthcare system failures, through the comprehensive analysis of serious adverse events occurring throughout the region. The Consultant provides expertise and support for the application and integration of evidence-based tools, frameworks and guidelines to support safety across the system of care. The Consultant facilitates quality improvement initiatives to promote quality and safety improvements across the Health Authority.

The Consultant leads the intake, assessment, management, and resolution of highly confidential and sensitive matters concerning patient/client relations including complaints, concerns, and unmet needs within the Patient Care Quality Office. This is a regulated role under the Patient Care Quality Review Board Act of BC (2008) (PCQRBA) and the Health Statutes (Residents’ Bill of Rights) Amendment Act of BC (2009) (BOR) and operates in accordance with Interior Health’s (IH) complaint management philosophy, policy, and guidelines. The Consultant assists patients/clients with access and navigation to meet complex healthcare needs; seeks to meet patient/client needs related to the resolution of complaints to the satisfaction of the complainant; and liaises with internal and external partners as required, in order to facilitate consensus and negotiate agreements that result in the resolution of complaint issues.

The Consultant takes a proactive approach to understanding Aboriginal patients’ experiences in healthcare, and engages with Aboriginal leaders and clients regarding concerns and adverse event management processes. The Consultant is also responsible for ensuring concerns and compliments are tracked, analyzed, evaluated and reported and has a role in identifying opportunities for improvement related to education and policy/system change for the organization.

The Consultant works closely with leaders in all portfolios, including in Medicine and Quality, Clinical Operations, and our external partners to resolve care concerns and identify opportunities for quality improvement.


Some Key Duties may include:

• Provides leadership and expertise to promote a culture of safety, including cultural safety within IH by bringing an Aboriginal lens to the management of Aboriginal patient/client and family feedback activities.
• Collaborates with key partners regarding patient, client or resident complaints or compliments, and supports a culturally safe resolution of issues, ensuring client feedback is tracked for accountability and improvement purposes.
• Remains current with and fulfills obligations and responsibilities in the context of relevant legislation, regulations and common law, in collaboration with IH Privacy, Risk Management, IH Patient Safety and the Patient Care Quality Review Board.
• Provides advice and consultation regarding the management of Aboriginal client feedback issues, including both verbal and written communication and courses of action when initial steps do not resolve issues to a complainant’s satisfaction.
• Ensures timely and effective triaging of complaints and determination of follow up actions including referral in response to patient/family complaints and related solutions.
• Develops and maintains excellence in quality care by providing unique expertise and leadership in the investigation and analysis of serious adverse events.
• Develops and follows processes to ensure involvement of patients, family, and community in the patient safety investigation and quality review processes.
• Provides consultation, support and assistance to operational and medical staff throughout the disclosure process after adverse events as needed.
• Provides consultation, coaching, and training for leaders, medical staff, and employees regarding Quality Reviews, patient safety investigations, and complaint management for Aboriginal patients, clients, and residents.
• Supports Aboriginal patients, clients and residents to report concerns about care. Collaborates with Aboriginal patients, clients, families, public members and leaders, assisting people to know and understand their rights and responsibilities and providing support to navigate through the complaints process.
• Ensure the appropriate referral of issues to appropriate bodies (eg. Risk Management; Adult Guardianship; PCQO; Regulatory Colleges; Patient Care Quality Review Board; Ombudsperson).
• Elevates relevant or patterns of concerns to Aboriginal Health to inform training and policy work.
• Coordinates conferences or cultural ceremony between patients, clients, residents, and families and their support persons or representatives and IH leaders, medical staff, and external partners as appropriate during the process of resolving concerns.
• Assists in the maintenance and development of a client feedback information management system (eg. Patient Safety Learning System), ensuring that client feedback is documented, status of resolution is monitored, and activities and outcomes are analyzed and reported for accountability and improvement purposes. Creates standard and ad hoc reports as required.
• Participates in the development of policies and procedures related to concerns management.
• Participates in interdisciplinary/interdepartmental and professional meetings as appropriate, communicating needs and concerns and sharing knowledge of Aboriginal perspectives and cultural safety to help mentor the PCQO and patient experience teams.
• Carries out responsibilities in accordance with health and safety requirements. Immediately reports unsafe situations by notifying supervisor or other appropriate personnel.
• Supports and promotes the mission, philosophy, and strategic direction for IH associated with Aboriginal Health, Quality & Patient Safety, and patient/client relations.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.


Some of the Benefits of Joining Interior Health:

An attractive remuneration package and excellent career prospects await the right candidate. We offer one of the best benefit packages and pension plans in Canada. In addition to Medical, Dental and Extended Health coverage, we also offer paid annual vacation starting at 4 weeks (20 days) up to a maximum of 7 weeks (35 days). We also offer an attractive defined employee pension plan, disability and life insurance, and options for maternity &/or paternity leave top-up.

Interior Health strives to create an environment where you enjoy the work you do, the place where you work, and the people around you. Together, we create great workplaces. Apply today!

Why Interior Health is a Top 100 BC Employer

Honouring Interior Health’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and Pursuant to Section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code, preferential consideration and/or hiring will be given to qualified applicants who self-identify as Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit).

Qualifications

Education, Training, and Experience:

• A level of education, training and experience equivalent to a Master’s degree in nursing or other health related program.
• Five to seven years of experience working in a large, multi-faceted health organization including three years leadership experience.
• Or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• Training and certifications in patient safety and quality improvement methods is preferred.
• Completion of an Aboriginal cultural safety training program.
• Completion of Trauma Informed Practice training.

Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, orally and in writing.
• Demonstrated knowledge of patient safety and quality improvement theory, principles, methods and tools.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills.
• Excellence in customer service and strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships with senior leaders and external partners.
• Demonstrated skills in facilitation, teaching and coaching.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with sound decision-making and judgment.
• Experience in handling sensitive patient/family interactions with compassion and empathy is essential.
• Ability to be adaptable and flexible to meet changing priorities, and to work independently with little or no supervision.
• Ability to effectively navigate confrontational and emotionally-charged environments.
• Proficiency in computer skills and software such as Microsoft Word, Sharepoint, Visio, Excel, Powerpoint.
• Ability and willingness to travel within Interior Health.
• Physical ability to perform the duties of the position.

Comments

Salary range for the position is approximately $80,900 to $116,300 and starting salary will be based on education, training and experience.

This posting is covered by the Provincial Health Officer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination orders and selected applicant(s) must comply.

Interior Health now offers assistance from an Aboriginal Employment Advisor. If you self-identify as Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) and if you would like assistance with internal career exploration, send your question via email to AboriginalEmployment@interiorhealth.ca to be redirected to the Employment Advisor. We invite applicants to self-identify as First nations, Métis, or Inuit within cover letters and/or resumes.