Patient Experience Panel Terms of Reference

Purpose

Michael Garron Hospital’s (MGH) Patient Experience Panel (PEP) is a committee of Patient Experience Partners who work with hospital staff on projects that have a direct impact on patient care.

By working in partnership with staff and physicians, PEP:

• Gives a voice to patients and families.
• Creates a culture of patient centred care.
• Improves the patient experience.

Responsibilities

• Complete the Patient Experience Partners application and orientation process.
• Give input, feedback, and creative solutions for hospital initiatives and projects. Examples include education materials, policies, and program development.
• Give input that is helpful and positive. When talking about something that didn’t go well, give examples of how it could have gone better. When talking about something that went well, give examples of why it went well.
• Share personal experiences as they relate to programs and services. 
• Work together with staff, credentialed clinicians and volunteers.
• Join committees, focus groups, working groups, interview panels, etc. as requested.
• Share and celebrate successes and milestones.
• Help evaluate the purpose of Patient Experience Panel.

Membership

• PEP includes at least 10 members.
• PEP members are patients and/or family members/caregivers of patients who have recently received care at MGH.
• Any Patient Experience Partners are welcome at PEP meetings.. Any Patient Experience Partner can give feedback and input at PEP meetings.
• MGH staff will attend PEP meetings when they have projects that affect patients and families.

Term of Office

• The length of a term is 2 years.
• PEP members have the option to renew for another 2 year term at the end of their term.
• Terms will be staggered to so there is a balance between new and experienced members.

Meeting Frequency

• PEP meets at least every 2 months. 
• In-person meetings are 2-3 hours in length.
• Virtual meetings are 1.5 hours in length.

Chair

PEP is co-chaired by a Patient Experience Partner and the Director, Patient Experience. The role of the chairs is to:

• Draft the agendas.
• Lead the meetings.
• Guide discussions.
• Communicate with PEP members and MGH staff and credentialed clinicians.

Participation

• PEP members will:
  • Regularly attend meetings. If a PEP member misses 3 meetings in a year, the PEP chair will check in with the member to see if PEP is still a good fit for them.
  • Review materials.
  • Join discussions in a positive way. PEP encourages healthy dialogue to understand the experiences of patients and families. The input of all PEP members is accepted and valued.
• Guest presenters at PEP meetings will:
  • Share information about their projects with PEP members.
  • Ask questions to guide feedback and input from PEP members.
  • Use input and feedback from PEP members in their projects or do-design initiatives with Panel members.
  • Give updates to PEP members to share how feedback and input was used.

Communication

• The Director, Patient Experience, provides updates to MGH groups.