The Saint John Regional Hospital — a major health care centre in New Brunswick for trauma and cardiac care — hosted a session Sunday aimed at improving the so-called patient experience, or “customer experience” as it’s also called.
The small gathering, one of a number being held across the province, is collecting input from the public on how to make things better.
“They’re not listening to people on the street, they’re not listening to the patients, they’re not listening to the clients and the front line workers,” Gerry Hudson of the New Brunswick Senior Citizens Federation said.
Hudson’s organization is concerned with wait times and privatization. But one thing he does say is working is restorative care which helps patients regain their independence as quickly as possible.
“Put them into Fredericton, put them into Moncton, put them into Bathurst, put them into Edmundston,” he said. “If they want to save some money and they’re having this great drive for home first and yet they’re the ones that are blocking it.”
People who use the system regularly say customer service is vital.
“Every two months I come in for treatments and I’m usually here for a period of time. (I) usually average a surgery once every couple of years,” Patient Experience Advisor Roger Stoddard said.
Other advocates, like Dave O’Toole, plan on keeping the pressure on the health care network.
“We’re not going away so we keep coming to these things and, you know, eventually, you do make changes,” O’Toole said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but you have to persevere.”
Horizon Health says it wants to put words into action.
“Depending on the recommendations made, depending on the cost and what it would require, some may take longer than others to implement,” Margaret Melanson of Horizon Health said.
Melanson says information gathered from these sessions will be passed on to the various departments in the system and asked that they be included in future planning. She says that it something it will continue to monitor.
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