Frequently Asked Questions

Patient Ombudsman’s role is to receive, respond to and help resolve complaints from current or former patients and residents or their caregivers about their care or experiences with public hospitals, long-term care homes and home and community care support services organizations. We work with all sides (patients/caregivers and the health care organization) to try and find a fair resolution.

Patient Ombudsman receives complaints from current and former hospital patients or their caregivers; current or former residents of long-term care homes or their caregivers; and current or former clients of home and community care services or their caregivers.

You can contact Patient Ombudsman by regular mail, by phone (toll free and TTY), by email or by fax . You can make a confidential complaint through our online complaint form.

Patient Ombudsman may be able to help you if your complaint falls within Patient Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and you have already sought to have your complaint addressed by the health sector organization.

Your complaint must have the following elements:

• It must be about an action or inaction of a health sector organization;
• It must involve the care or health care experience of a current or former patient, resident or client of the health sector organization; and,
• Your complaint cannot be within the jurisdiction of another person or entity.

Patient Ombudsman is generally an office of last resort. This means that you need to try to address your issue through any available complaint process at the health sector organization before contacting our office. If you are not sure about your next steps, please give us a call and we can try to help refer you to the right place or direct you to someone who may be able to assist you.

Every experience is important. Your willingness to bring forward your complaint may improve the future health care experience for you and others.

Patient Ombudsman receives written complaints online, by fax or by regular mail. You can also call us for assistance in filing your complaint.

Patient Ombudsman’s services are free of charge.

If you wish Patient Ombudsman to proceed with your complaint, we will require your name and other relevant personal information in order to proceed.

All complaint information is kept strictly confidential and only disclosed for the purpose of facilitating a resolution, conducting an investigation or otherwise required by law.

Yes. Patient Ombudsman will require your consent to proceed with resolving your complaint. We will not identify a complainant without permission.

Our first step will be to work toward finding a reasonable resolution to your concerns through mediation and negotiation. We will hear from you; we will hear from the health sector organization; and, we may collect documents and other relevant information. With this information, our staff will work toward achieving a resolution. However, if we are not successful at this stage, we may consider conducting an investigation.

If we are unable to come to a satisfactory resolution, Patient Ombudsman may consider conducting an investigation. An investigation is a formal process which involves providing notices to the health sector organization and complainant that an investigation is going to take place. Patient Ombudsman has the power to compel the production of information from health sector organizations and anyone who provides services through or on behalf of the organization, obtain warrants for entry, summons people to give evidence under oath and make recommendations to the health sector organization.

Patient Ombudsman is required to conduct investigations in private. Your name may be provided to others for the purpose of attempting to facilitate a resolution to your complaint, or to conduct an investigation. This will be done with your consent. Otherwise we will only disclose your name when required by law.

Patient Ombudsman must make a report to the Minister at least annually, and to the local health integration networks as appropriate. These reports will be available to the public on this website. Although the subject-matter of your complaint may be included in such a report, no personal or personal health information will be included in a public report.

It is difficult to say how long it will take to address your complaint. The length of time will depend on a number of factors, including: the complexity of the complaint; access to witnesses; and, access to other relevant information. We will be able to close some complaints in a couple of days, while others may take several months or even longer.

Patient Ombudsman can start an investigation on our own initiative, without a specific complaint. Generally, these investigations will focus on systemic concerns in health sector organizations.

Patient Ombudsman is fully compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Accommodation will be provided to meet the needs of individuals wishing to access our services. In an effort to make our services accessible, we provide, for example: interpretative services when communicating with our staff; information pamphlets in multiple languages; and, an AODA compliant website.