Posted on: December 12, 2022
Over the last couple of years, Island Health's Policy Stewardship Office has been on a path of continual improvement to support the organization with the development and management of policy documents.
One of these improvements is the launch of the revised Policy Framework to better support programs and teams developing policy documents, and to help all of us fulfil our mission to provide excellent health and care for everyone, everywhere, every time.
And, as many of you know through our most recent Accreditation process, policy documents – specifically, well-crafted and managed policy documents – are key to supporting our front-line staff in the delivery of safe, high-quality care.
The updated Policy Framework was informed by feedback and insights from multiple areas, including hands-on input from our internal policy Community of Practice, the Island Health Policy Liaison Network, and best practices from our policy office peers across B.C. and Canada. It has also been endorsed by Policy Governance Council, and Sharon Torgerson, Executive Sponsor for Policy.
About the Policy Framework
The revised Policy Framework now better clarifies roles and responsibilities at all stages of policy development. It also standardizes the structure and processes for the development and implementation of all corporate/administrative/clinical policy within Island Health, and applies to everyone who is involved with any component of policy management throughout the four stages of the Policy Cycle: Initiation, Development, Implementation and Evaluation.
We encourage everyone at Island Health to familiarize themselves with the revised Policy Framework, as well as the many supporting tools on the Creating Policies, Procedures, Guidelines and Protocols intranet page.
As always, the Policy Stewardship Office is your first point of contact before you start to create or update a policy document. We are happy to answer any questions you have or provide education on the revised framework. We are here to support you!
Contact us anytime at policy@islandhealth.ca.