Complaints Commissioners’ Assistance Function: System Navigator or Queue Jumper?

  • Maude Laliberté Consultant specializing in Health Ethics and Complaints Process, Montréal, Québec, Canada
  • Julien Brisson Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal (CIUSSS); Bioethics Program, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5106-3122
  • Marie-Eve Lemoine Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal (CIUSSS); Bioethics Program, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-0864
  • Jean-Philippe Payment Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal (CIUSSS), Montréal, Québec, Canada
  • Emilie Blackburn Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal (CIUSSS), Montréal, Québec, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-9551
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1092957ar
Keywords: complaints, ombudsman, assistance, quality of healthcare, equity
Language(s): English

Abstract

This commentary invites reflection on the positive and negative outcomes of “assistances” provided by a Complaints Commissioner. While the goal of an assistance is to help the user navigate the health system, a lack of clarity and understanding of the process can lead to the user obtaining undue privileges.  We suggest three key values to guide the equitable conduct of assistances and we suggest a mixed method research methodology to document the positive and negative impacts of assistances.

(c) Han Han Li
Published
2022-10-17
How to Cite
[1]
Laliberté M, Brisson J, Lemoine M-E, Payment J-P, Blackburn E. Complaints Commissioners’ Assistance Function: System Navigator or Queue Jumper?. Can. J. Bioeth. 2022;5:52-5. https://doi.org/10.7202/1092957ar.
Issue
Vol. 5 No. 3 (2022): Ethics and the Handling of Complaints
Section
Critical commentaries

Copyright (c) 2022 Maude Laliberté, Julien Brisson, Marie-Eve Lemoine, Jean-Philippe Payment, Emilie Blackburn

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