Right-Touch Regulation
FEEDBACK ABOUT OUR ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS
“I would like to thank you again for your professional and empathetic demeanour throughout this
process. I also appreciate completing the entire process in a timely manner.” – Physician
“From our initial conversation to the conclusion of my complaint,
I felt really heard, encouraged, supported.” – Complainant
Complaints
In 2019, we continued to find opportunities to
provide better service, while working respectfully
with patients and physicians throughout the
complaints process.
As the College’s complaint volume has increased
over the years, timelines also increased, leading to
a backlog of cases. Not surprisingly, this resulted
in dissatisfaction for both complainants and
physicians. At the start of 2018, it took, on average,
344 days to complete a complaint. We believed that
we could and should do better. By the end of 2019,
we decreased that length by 47%.
In 2018, we made it our goal to reduce the time
in which we contacted a complainant from
21 days to two business days of receipt of
complaint. In 2019, we met the benchmark and
held it throughout the year.
We have increased the percentage of complaint
cases referred to Alternative Dispute Resolution
from 16% in 2018 to 46% in 2019. Our goal
is to complete all matters seen through ADR
within 60 days, but system improvements within
this stream have seen us resolve many of the
matters within 30 days.
In using our resources more efficiently, the
number of ongoing complaint cases has
dropped by almost two-thirds (62%).
We reduced the average timeline for a decision
to be written and released to the parties by 89%.
This is the College’s way of putting appropriate
resources where appropriate needs are, with the
goal of protecting the public while at the same time
recognizing the impact of the complaint on both
parties.
The introduction of system improvements has seen
the following benefits:
This ability to triage lower-risk matters to
ADR provides us the opportunity to use the
resources of our Inquiries, Complaints and
Reports Committee to respond more quickly in
addressing those cases where patient safety is
at risk.
16 // CPSO ANNUAL REPORT 2019