ECFAA: Doing the right thing for our patients and their families

Work is underway at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) to ensure compliance with the Excellent Care for All Act, 2010 or ECFAA, as it is commonly called. This legislation received Royal Assent on June 8, 2010, and the sections relating to hospital quality committees came into effect on January 1, 2011. This legislation places more emphasis on transparency and accountability of hospital boards, staff, physicians and volunteers for quality, safety and the overall patient experience.

There are eight components to comply with ECFAA, and one is the development of a public document called the Patient Declaration of Values. The purpose of the declaration of values is to make sure the care we provide is what our patients expect. These values will help us strengthen our focus in the delivery of high quality patient and family centred care.

Our CKHA Patient and Family Centred Care Steering Committee has produced a proposed declaration of values and wants to hear from you. Patients, families, staff, volunteers and members of the community are invited to provide feedback by viewing the main CKHA web page at: http://www.ckha.on.ca and clicking on the buttoncalled “Patient Values – Inviting your Input”and then following the links to read the draft values and complete a short survey. Providing feedback will ensure that we are on the right track with promoting a positive patient experience at CKHA.