Users’ Committees

What do the committees do?

The users committees actively contribute to the continuous improvement of the quality of services offered in each institution within the Public Health and Social Services Network and to the defense of users’ rights.

Users committees are present in all institutions: It is a legal requirement. They are therefore established everywhere in Quebec. There are committees within hospital settings and the CLSCs, rehabilitation centers (physical, intellectual disability/ADD and dependency), Child and Youth protection centers, mental health institutes, specialized institutes and University hospitals. For their part, in-patients committees operate in residential centers (CHSLDs), and Child and Youth protection centers. They report to a users committee.

Legal Framework

Unlike community and leisure organizations, which determine their own mission, users and in-patients committees have specific functions that are defined by law. The mandate and functions of the users and in-patients committees are governed by the Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services (LSSSS), sections 209 to 212. The users and in-patients committees are ones within the institution, with autonomous functioning. They are legal entities without having a juridical personality.

Mandate of the committees

Ensure that users are treated with respect for their dignity.
Be one of the users’ spokespersons in their dealings with the institution.
Implement the committees’ legal functions efficiently and effectively.

Functions of the users committees

Inform users on their rights and obligations.
Work to improve the quality of users’ living conditions and evaluate the level of user satisfaction in regards to the services they receive from the institution.
Defend the collective rights and interests of users or, at the request of an individual, their rights and interests as users before the institution, or any other competent authority.
Accompany and assist, upon request, a user in any action they undertake, including filing a complaint.
Ensure, where appropriate, that each in-patient committee is functioning properly and has the necessary resources to carry out its functions.
Evaluate, if applicable, the effectiveness of the measure implemented under the provisions of section 209.0.1 of the AHSSS (LSSSS).

Functions of the in-patients committees

Inform users on their rights and obligations.
Work to improve the quality of users’ living conditions and evaluate the level of user satisfaction in regards to the services they receive from the institution.
Defend the collective rights and interests of users or, at the request of an individual, their rights and interests as users before the institution, or any other competent authority.

Composition of users and in-patients committees

The committee is made up of volunteers generally elected for a three year term. They may be a user, a relative of a user, or any person who has an interest in defending the right of users. The members of the users committees are elected by the users of their institution. Those of the in-patients committees are elected by the in-patients within their residential center.

Integrated Centers’ users committees (CUCI)

Adopted in 2015, Bill 10 modified the organization of the Health and Social Services Network by merging institutions, which led to the creation of Integrated (University) Health and Social Services centres known by the acronym CISSS (CIUSSS). However, the user committees were not merged and remained in place. All health regions in Quebec are governed by a CISSS/CIUSSS, except in Montreal where there are five, and in Montérégie, three – taking into account the population density of these regions. Each CISSS/CIUSSS now has an Integrated Centre Users Committee (CUCI) that is responsible for the activities of all users committees and in-patients’ committees operating on its territory.

Why contact your committee?

A user may, at all times, contact their institution’s users committee or the in-patients committee within the residential centre where they are residing. Should you consider that services received were not adequate, that your rights have been violated, or should you simply wish to get information, you may discuss the issue with the users committee or the in-patients committee. You may do this on your own behalf or on behalf of a person close to you. Having recourse to users and in-patients committees is both confidential and free of charge. You can also contact your committee to express your satisfaction or thank the caregivers and volunteers.

Contact your users and in-patients committee when you wish to:

Get information on your rights as a user
Get information on your responsibilities and obligations as a user
Make your comments known to the person in charge of a particular service or the person responsible of the quality of care and services
Share your suggestions and comments regarding the quality of services
Raise awareness about a problem, sometimes a minor one, which is affecting your stay
Express your dissatisfaction with the care or services you are receiving
Obtain information on possible recourses
Get help lodging a complaint before the Complaints Commissioner and the person responsible for the quality of services
Be accompanied in your complaint’s process
Inform others of problems which you have experienced within the institution
Put an end to an unacceptable situation
Ensure that others don’t have to go through a similar situation
Inform the users committee of a matter of concern (whether recurrent or not) within your institution
Inform that the attending professional has committed an error
Express your satisfaction, your appreciation
Thank the health care workers, volunteers, and the management following your ⁠—or a close one’s⁠— stay
Etc.

You can also contact the users and in-patients committee if you are the victim or witness of an act of abuse or assault committed either within an institution or when receiving home care services.

Finding your committee

Contact information for users and in-patients committees can be found on most Quebec Health and Social Services institutions’ Internet sites. Most of the links below refer to the sites’ sections on committees. The institutions are presented according to their health region. For the private CHSLDs’ committees, contact the CHSLD’s management.

Being part of a committee

Having the power to improve the quality of care and services

Users and their loved ones have the power to make a difference in the Health and Social Services Network, both for their own benefit and for the benefit of all other users of their institution. They can do so at any time by working with authorities dedicated to improving the quality of care and services such as users and in-patients committees. If you wish to be involved in defending the rights of users within a users’ committee, and contribute to improving the quality of care and services offered, you must remember that all your actions must comply with the LSSSS, which defines the mandate and functions of a committee.

Users’ committees are neither leisure organisations nor pressure groups. Their mandate and functions are defined by law, and their action is limited to their health care institution, territory and clientele. Similarly, you will have to act in the interest of all users while paying particular attention to the most vulnerable clienteles. The work of committee members requires a high degree of availability and growth of knowledge and skills so they may perform their duties effectively.

What you will be doing within your committee according to your interests, skills and availability

In collaboration with the other members of the committee, work to improve the quality of services offered to users in your institution, sector or territory.
Organize activities to promote and raise awareness of users’ rights among users, institution’s staff, and the public.
Conduct surveys, polls, create questionnaires to assess the degree of satisfaction of users of the establishment or a targeted clientele, identify problems within the establishment, and propose solutions.
Support and accompany a user, at his or her request, in a complaint procedure.
Draft activity reports, manage and administer, do accountability reporting, and manage the committee’s budget.
Participate in the committee’s meetings.
Participate in coordinating groups or other bodies of the institution as a member of the committee.
Collaborate with the committee’s contact person when necessary.
Establish and maintain partnerships with various stakeholders and institutional committees.
Establish partnership strategies to obtain follow-up from management on the committee’s recommendations.
Promote the improvement of the quality of services based on concrete, real-life situations within the institution.
Take training courses to better understand your commitment, your role and your functions.
Etc.

What you will not be doing

Intervene on behalf of users other than those in your establishment
Use the committee’s resources for purposes other than those provided for by law
Organize leisure activities
Take part in political activism

Some examples of engagement

By participating in the meetings of the users’ committee, a woman collaborates in the development of a questionnaire that will be distributed to CLSC clients in order to assess the degree of satisfaction of users with the services received from this CLSC. The results will be forwarded to the establishment’s management, who will be asked to come up with an improvement plan and a member of the committee will ensure follow-up.
Following dissatisfaction with the quality of the meals served, the family member of a CHSLD resident involved in the in-patients’ committee organizes a meeting with the food service officials.
The chairperson of a CISSS users committee presents, at a meeting of the institution’s Board of Directors, a list of priority issues established following consultation with all the committees in her territory or region.
In collaboration with the other members of the users’ committee, a man is contributing to the design of a local information campaign on users’ rights which is to be launched during Users’ Rights Week.

For more information