Surgeon General Message: Canadian Forces Health Services Accreditation Canada Survey Results and the Way Forward
September 18, 2023 - Defence Stories
I am pleased to share with the members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that Canadian Forces Health Services (CFHS) has met the requirements of the Accreditation Canada Qmentum program and has retained ‘Accredited’ status. Accreditation runs on a four-year continuous cycle including an onsite survey assessment. The survey report assists our organization in strengthening our programs and services by identifying what we do well and where we need to focus our quality improvement efforts over the next several years. These improvement efforts will help create a stronger and more sustainable culture of quality and safety across the organization, where care is planned and delivered.
Strengths noted in the report from Accreditation Canada include CFHS’ stellar response to the Covid-19 pandemic; a general appreciation from patients about their access to medical and dental care; the existence of strict protocols governing the confidentiality of personal and personal health information; a Patient Safety focus that has made significant gains within all levels of the organization; and the fact that patients were very engaged in the focus groups, openly discussing what CFHS does well and the areas for improvement to better meet their needs. CFHS was also commended for pursuing modernization and culture change to engage patients and their families more effectively in Person Partnered Care. I can assure you that CFHS will seek active participation of our patients and their families as the program is planned and implemented, to ensure their opinion is incorporated in areas that influence their health, and their medical and dental care.
CFHS is dedicated to advancing the health of CAF members and delivering high quality care in every location. Our journey towards excellence will never be complete. It is acknowledged that challenges remain. To name a few, patient feedback needs to have a real impact on the healthcare system, the electronic health record needs modernization and replacement, and there is a need to review concerns regarding access to and continuity of health care. CFHS is deeply committed to addressing the challenges and pursuing the opportunities for improvement that are documented in the report.
The Accreditation Canada recommendations will inform CFHS priorities and activities over the next several years. Having external professional organizations evaluate our programs and services against evidence-based benchmarks allows us to determine where improvement is required. I wish to thank all who participated in the onsite survey process and provided the surveyors with honest opinions on how our organization can improve. I look forward to our continued journey towards providing excellence in healthcare delivery for the CAF population. In the interest of transparency, I am providing a link to the full report on the CFHS patient page for all to access: Accreditation Report [PDF - 2.15MB] (only accessible on the DWAN)
Major-General Marc Bilodeau
Surgeon General, Canadian Armed Forces