Hearing from GSS Staff

GSS staff came through again…

Every two years, staff who deal with clients are invited to complete the Canadian Patient Safety Culture  survey. In 2019, 87% of eligible staff completed the survey and this June, you responded at that high level again.

And survey information was put to good use again. This year, a main theme was staff concern about serious errors leading to negative consequences. A secondary theme was varied satisfaction levels with feedback on changes due to incident reports.

At the September General Staff Meeting (GSM), a presentation and discussion focused on the difference between ‘errors’ versus ‘negligence.’  An article in this newsletter picks up on key points from that GSM session. Regarding the secondary survey theme on Incident Reports and feedback,  a survey went to staff recently to learn more about how to share information on changes related to Incident Reports.

But surveys aren’t the only way staff have input at GSS. Here are other ways to have input:

Watch for staff committee opportunities. That’s how our comprehensive policy on Diversity and Inclusion was developed. And since the GSS Training Bursary was established in 2017, a staff committee has been reviewing and making decisions about bursary applications. Of course, a key staff committee is the Joint Worksite Health & Safety Committee (JWHSC). You don’t have to be on the committee to give feedback to your onsite Health & Safety representative (HSR) or Manager.

Policies and procedures can be another way to have input. That input can be through a policy development committee or at a General Staff Meeting discussion like when the new Weapons procedure was introduced. Of course, input can be passed on at the program level when procedures are discussed in a staff or team meeting. Procedures get reviewed regularly so comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Why is your feedback important? This quote says it all: “What you see depends not only on what you look AT, but also, on where you look FROM.”* Thank you for sharing your important view so we can continually make GSS better and better.

*James Deacon