Promote and protect

the rights and interests of users of the system

Our mandate

Our mandate derives from An Act respecting health services and social services. More specifically, the Minister of Health and Social Services entrusts us with the mandate defined in the two following articles of the Act.

Article 76.6 describes our mandate:

“… assist and support users residing in the region who wish to address a complaint to an institution in the region, to the agency or to the Health Services Ombudsman or whose complaint was referred to the council of physicians, dentists and pharmacists of the institution and is governed by section 58.”

Article 76.7 specifies our functions:

“… assist a user in any step undertaken to file a complaint with an institution or agency or with the Health Services Ombudsman, and provide support to the user throughout the proceeding, including complaints referred to the council of physicians, dentists and pharmacists of an institution. The community organization shall provide information on the complaints process, help the user define the subject of the complaint, draft the complaint where necessary and provide assistance and support on request to the user at each stage of the proceeding, facilitate conciliation between the user and any authority concerned and contribute, through the support so afforded, to the user’s satisfaction and the enforcement of the user’s rights.”

Our guiding principles

In order to guarantee health care user’s respect, the CAAP – Laval adopted the following guiding principles:

Respect of the individual in his or her approach, self-reliance, abilities, and values
Confidentiality
Unprejudiced attitude towards the user
Intervention within the frame of our mandate in the respect of all other resources’ roles and responsibilities.

Laval CAAP's Code of Ethic

This code of ethics is intended as a consensus-building tool expressing the values shared by the employees who deliver services and the managers of the Centre d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes – Laval.

Our responsibility is to fulfil our terms of reference in a way that respect individuals, our terms of reference and our guidelines.

Any action taken within an organization must be based and depend on a threefold concern: concern for oneself, concern for others and concern for the institution.

– Jean Francois Chanlat

The word “user” designates both an individual who has received services in the health and social services system, an assistant or a legal representative.
The masculine form used in this text refers to both women and men.

Mandate

The Centre d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes – Laval is mandated to assist and support, upon request, users in Laval who wish to make a complaint to an institution, a regional agency or the Health Services Ombudsman.

Respect for the user

Our guidelines:

Respect for an individual’s approach, autonomy, skills and values
- Be polite and courteous in everything we do.
- Treat the user as the best resource and remain attentive to what he or she has to say throughout the process.
- Encourage the user’s involvement, while recognizing his or her potential and limits.
- Respect the user’s needs, choices, pace, experience and progression.
Open-mindedness
- Encourage a positive, holistic approach to individuals.
- Respect freedom of conscience, religion, beliefs, opinion and expression, as recognized by Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Confidentiality
- Do not give a third party confidential information about a user unless the latter has authorized us to do so.
- Ensure the secure disposal of all confidential documents.
Accessibility and availability
- Take the necessary steps to make our services accessible within a reasonable lapse of time.
Quality of services and compliance with terms of reference
- Ensure the continual improvement of our services.
- Intervene within the limits of our terms of reference.
- Refer a user to the resources that are most appropriate to his or her needs.
Free services
- Offer our services free of charge to persons who request them.

Our functions

The CAAP – Laval is mandated to assist and support, upon request, users in Laval who wish to make a complaint to an institution, a regional agency or the Health Services Ombudsman and provide support to the user throughout the proceeding, including when the complaint is conveyed to a doctor’s council, and a dentist or pharmacist from an establishment. The community organization shall provide information on the complaints process, help the user define the subject of the complaint, draft the complaint where necessary and provide assistance and support on request to the user at each stage of the proceeding, facilitate conciliation between the user and any authority concerned and contribute, through the support so afforded, to the enforcement of the user’s rights and the improvement of the quality of services.”

Respect for each other

Certain principles must be respected in relations between the CAAP’s employees and managers.

Self-respect
- Respect oneself as an individual.
- Recognize that each person has the primary responsibility for maintaining and improving his or her skills.
- Allow oneself to make mistakes, be aware of one’s limits and values.
Respect for others
- Contribute through one’s attitude to maintaining a harmonious climate of work and pleasant relations with colleagues.
- Respect colleagues’ values and privacy.
Respect for the organisation
- Respect the organisation’s terms of reference.
- Respect each person’s roles and duties.
- Respect the decisions made by the organisation.
- Encourage consensus-building.
- Foster a positive image of the organisation.

In the community

These values and guidelines must also be respected in our relations with the general community.

It goes without saying that we must comply with all the laws in force in Québec that govern our work. We must ensure that what we do is done within the limits of our terms of reference and in such a way as to respect the roles and responsibilities of other resources.