Tommy Douglas Act (Patients' Bill of Rights), 2003 Martel, Shelley — Bill 56 (37th Parliament, 4th Session)

Bill 56, 37-4

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 56, Tommy Douglas Act (Patients' Bill of Rights), 2003

Martel, Shelley

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Debates

Original

[37] Bill 56 Original (PDF)

Bill 56 2003

An Act to promote

patients' rights and to

increase accountability

in Ontario's health care system

Preamble

The Canada Health Act declares that the primary objective of

Canadian health care policy is to protect, promote and restore the physical

and mental well-being of residents of Canada through a public health care

system, and asserts five commanding principles to ensure access to health

care services is guaranteed to all without financial or other barriers. Those

comprehensiveness, and public administration and funding.

Because health care policy in Ontario has the same primary objective with

respect to residents of Ontario, access to health care services in Ontario is

a social right.

It is important to recognize that this primary objective is equally

applicable at every stage of life and in every sector of Ontario's health

care system. It is just as important in the growing areas of community

services, long-term care and public health as in more traditional forms of

health care delivery in hospitals and physicians' offices.

To ensure equality of access and quality of outcome, it is desirable to

extend the five principles of the Canada Health Act to the delivery

of all health care services. It is also desirable to increase accountability

in Ontario's health care system and to establish the rights and obligations

of participants more clearly.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1. In this Act,

"Commissioner" means the Health Care Standards Commissioner appointed

under

section 3; ("commissaire")

"health care services" includes,

(

a) professional services provided by persons who are members as defined

in the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 ,

(

b) community support services as defined in the Long-Term Care Act,

1994 ,

(

c) anything that is done for a therapeutic, preventive, palliative,

diagnostic or other health-related purpose. ("services de soins de

santé")

Patients' Bill of Rights

Patients' Bill of Rights

(1) Every resident of Ontario

has the following rights:

1. The right to receive all necessary health care services in a health

care system that,

i. is accessible, universal, comprehensive and publicly administered and

funded,

ii. offers freedom of choice,

iii. provides timely treatment,

iv. does not allow personal income to determine access to health care

services, and

v. recognizes that every provider of health care services is a valued

member of a multidisciplinary health care team.

2. The right to give or refuse consent to the provision of health care

services.

3. The right to all information necessary to make fully informed health

care choices, including information about who will provide particular

services and about the qualifications of those providers.

4. The right to receive publicly funded health care of high quality in the

home and in the community as well as in health care facilities.

5. The right to receive information, whether in a health care facility or

in the community, about choices that promote good health and measures that

prevent illness and accident.

6. The right to be dealt with by health care service providers,

i. with courtesy and respect,

ii. in a manner that recognizes individual dignity and privacy and

promotes individual autonomy,

iii. in a manner that recognizes and responds to individual needs and

preferences, including those based on ethnic, spiritual, linguistic, familial

and cultural factors,

iv. without mental, physical, sexual or financial abuse.

7. The right to participate in any assessment of personal care

requirements and in the development of plans for care.

8. The right to make complaints, raise concerns and recommend changes

without fear of interference, coercion, discrimination or reprisal.

9. The right to be informed of,

i. the laws, rules and policies affecting providers of health care

services, and

ii. the procedures for initiating complaints about providers of health

care services.

10. The right to confidentiality of health care records in accordance with

the law.

Citation

(2) Subsection (1) may be referred to as the Patients' Bill of

Rights.

Health Care Standards

Commissioner

Commissioner

(1) A Health Care Standards

Commissioner shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, on the

address of the Assembly.

Officer of the Legislature

(2) The Commissioner is an officer of the Legislature.

Functions

(3) The Commissioner has the following functions:

1. To promote understanding of and compliance with the Patients' Bill of

Rights.

2. To participate with the colleges of the regulated health professions

and with organizations representing patients, health care workers, hospitals,

long-term care facilities, community care access centres, community and group

health centres and public health units in the development of standards of

care, clinical best practices and standards for health facility

management.

3. To monitor the standards and practices referred to in paragraph 2 and

to publish reports on such standards and practices, including their

enforcement.

4. To review annual reports made to the Minister of Health and Long-Term

Care under the Ministry of Health Appeal and Review Boards Act, 1998

and to make recommendations to the Minister in connection with the

subject-matter of the reports.

5. To make recommendations to the Legislature for improvements to be made

to the laws and policies that govern health care services.

6. To advise providers of health care services on the establishment of

complaints procedures.

7. To take action under

section 4 (whistleblowers' protection).

8. To report to the Legislature annually.

Whistleblowers' Protection

Purposes

(1) The purposes of this

section

are,

(

a) to protect employees of providers of health care services from adverse

employment action for disclosing allegations of non-compliance with the

Patients' Bill of Rights or a health care standard; and

(

b) to provide a means for making those allegations public.

Disclosure

(2) An employee of a health care service provider may disclose

to the Commissioner information that is obtained in the course of his or her

employment and that the employee is otherwise required to keep confidential,

for either or both of the following purposes:

1. To seek advice about the employee's rights and obligations.

2. To allow the information to be made public, if the employee believes

that it may be in the public interest to do so.

Review, investigation and report

(3) The Commissioner shall review information disclosed to him

or her under subsection (2) and may,

(

a) investigate the matter, if of the opinion that it is appropriate to do

so; and

(

b) if the investigation reveals probable non-compliance with the

Patients' Bill of Rights or with a health care standard, publish a report of

the results of the investigation.

Patient confidentiality

(4) The Commissioner shall ensure that no identifying

information about a patient is disclosed as a result of the Commissioner's

activities under subsection (3).

No adverse employment action

(5) No provider of health care services or person acting on

behalf of such a provider shall take adverse employment action against an

employee because the employee has, acting in good faith, disclosed

information under subsection (2).

Communication of information

(1) Copies of the Patients' Bill

of Rights and of

section 4 of this Act (whistleblowers' protection) shall be

posted in conspicuous locations in every health facility and in the place of

business of every provider of health care services.

Same

(2) Copies of the Patients' Bill of Rights shall be

communicated by community care access centres to all persons receiving home

care or community support services.

Commencement

6. This Act comes into force on a day to be named by

proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Short title

7. The

short title of this Act is the Tommy Douglas

Act (Patients' Bill of Rights), 2003 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill codifies the rights of

residents of Ontario who receive health care services, in the form of a

Patients' Bill of Rights.

The Bill provides for the

appointment of a Health Care Standards Commissioner (an officer of the

Legislature) who will perform functions such as participating in the setting

of health care standards and the development of complaints procedures,

monitoring health care standards and making recommendations to the Minister

of Health and Long-Term Care and to the Legislature.

The Bill establishes whistleblower

protection for the employees of providers of health care services.

The Bill requires conspicuous

posting of copies of the Patients' Bill of Rights and of the whistleblower

protection provisions.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 26, 2003

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

May

26, 2003

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent :

Coming into force :Proclamation

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 56, 37-4
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s4 bill 56 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	d970d07ba8d0462259380d43a42d6b78cfea58ce

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