Do you live in a residential and long-term care centre (CHSLD)? Pandemic or no pandemic, your user rights remain the same. The care and services you receive must respond to your human, social and medical needs. That’s what the law says.
Examples of your rights
Under the Act respecting health services and social services, you have the right to:
- Be informed about your health condition and the care provided;
- Receive personalized and adequate health services and social services;
- See your confidential user’s record;
- Be helped or represented by a person of your choosing if you want to;
- Be treated politely, fairly, safely and respectfully.
Complaints: how to
Are you dissatisfied with the services you received in a CHSLD?
Public CHSLDs are the responsibility of integrated health and social services centres (CISSSs) or integrated university health and social services centres (CIUSSSs). To file a complaint, contact the CISSS or CIUSSS service quality and complaints commissioner. The contact information is on the Québec.ca website.
For private CHSLDs, the procedure is the same. Contact the CISSS or the CIUSSS in the CHSLD’s territory. Note that this is a new procedure that took effect on June 1, 2021, when the Act was amended. Before this change, complaints had to be made to the service quality and complaints commissioner of the CHSLD concerned. This is no longer the case.
Your complaint can be verbal or in writing. You can ask a family member or friend for help if you need to. You can also ask your regional complaint assistance and support centre (CAAP) to help out.
Call on the Québec Ombudsman
Service quality and complaints commissioners have 45 days to answer you. If you have not heard back by then, you can contact the Québec Ombudsman. You can also contact us if you are unhappy with the commissioner’s answer.
Sometimes the problem that you want to speak out against concerns someone other than yourself, for example, negligence towards a resident that you have witnessed. In such cases, you can contact us directly without going through the commissioner. This is called a report.
To either complain or report, you can phone us (1-800-463-5070) or use our online form.
Your file will be handled confidentially. Our services are free and there is no complicated red tape.
Worried about COVID-19 or the vaccination campaign?
Do you have questions about the COVID-19 crisis and are worried? Lots of people feel the same way:
- What are the symptoms I should pay attention to?
- When and where can I be vaccinated?
- What health rules apply in a given region?
- What about the rules for CHSLD visits?
- What are the rules for seeing family or friends?
For answers, phone the government hotline at 1-877-644-4545 or go to the Quebec.ca website.
