Learn more about your health and social services rights
Patients have the right to be accompanied, assisted and represented.
Published on July 4, 2024 by Azalée Larouche. Journal Le Canada Français, page A-20.
Everyone who receives services or care from the health and social services network benefits from rights enshrined in the Act respecting health and social services (LSSS). To ensure your rights are respected, it’s important to know what they are. Today, we present the right to be accompanied, assisted and represented.
A user has the right to be accompanied and assisted to obtain information, to undertake a procedure relating to a service offered by the public network or to lodge a complaint. The law also provides that the rights of assistance and accompaniment may be exercised by a representative with the user’s consent. To demystify them, here’s a case study.
Guylaine is 49 years old and very anxious when she has to go alone to medical appointments. She has already been hospitalized for psychotic episodes and suffers from an anxiety disorder. She confides in us that she is very nervous at medical appointments.
Guylaine asked us if a counsellor from the Centre d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes (CAAP) de la Montérégie could accompany her to her next appointment with her psychiatrist. She wanted a third party to listen in to make sure she had understood all the information she needed, and also for fear of being hospitalized. She had been through a lot during her last hospitalization.
A patient can be accompanied by the person of his or her choice during a medical appointment.
RESOURCE
We told her that, unfortunately, we were not authorized to provide accompaniment during medical consultations, but we were able to refer her to another organization, the Collectif de défense des droits de la Montérégie (CDDM), which offers this kind of service.
We weren’t able to accompany Guylaine to her medical appointment, but we were able to direct her to the right resource. Note that Guylaine could very well have been accompanied by another organization, such as a women’s center, or by a person of her choice.
However, it should be noted that accompaniment is only possible to obtain information during a routine consultation and cannot take place during an examination, which is considered a medical act.
CAAP MONTÉRÉGIE
CAAP Montérégie is the community organization mandated by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux to help users file complaints in the public services sector.
We inform and guide users through the complaint process, assist them in writing and formatting their letter of complaint and, if necessary, refer users to the appropriate body.
All our services are non-judgmental and confidential, and we respect the user’s decision to pursue or not pursue the process. This means that the user can end the process at any time, without having to justify himself.
If you think you need our services, don’t hesitate to contact us at 450 347-0670.
