Customer and Parent Involvement in Decision-Making Processes
Participation means that customers and parents participate in discussions, brainstorming, and decision-making processes regarding the direction of our institution and important developments. Our institution’s policy on customer participation is in line with the Customer Engagement in Healthcare Institutions Act 2018 (WMCZ 2018) and the Youth Act.
Customer Council
WMCZ 2018 and the Youth Act regulate customer and parent participation in healthcare. A key component of this is the establishment of a Customer Council (CC). The CC within the institution represents the common interests of customers and parents.
At our institution, each location has its own Customer Council consisting of at least two parents, and the CC represents the entire customer population of our institution.
We operate with a single, centralized arrangement for participation within our institution. The Customer Councils and the Board of Directors decide together whether a Central Customer Council is needed.
The Customer Council has various rights:
Right to information: A healthcare institution must provide the Customer Council with all information it needs to represent the interests of its clients. Right to consultation: The Customer Council regularly consults with management regarding the institution’s policy. Right to comprehensive consultation: The right to consultation on mergers/acquisitions, annual accounts, major renovations, relocation, quality of care, recreation facilities, catering, grievance procedure, changes to Customer Council bylaws and important regulations for clients. Right to approval: The Customer Council must pre-approve board decisions that have direct consequences for clients. For example, relating to quality of care or daytime activities. Right to inquire into cases of mismanagement: The Customer Council has the right to request an inquiry from the Commercial Division of the Court of Appeal to investigate possible mismanagement of a healthcare institution. Right to nominate a board member: The Customer Council may nominate at least one person to be appointed to the supervisory body, if any. The Customer Council may also advise on the profile of a board member and a supervisory board member. Right to approval A key component of the 2018 Customer Council Act is the Customer Council’s right to approval. This states that the Customer Council’s approval is required for significant decisions, developments, and changes within the organization. Here’s how we implement this: The Customer Representative (CR) is involved in the decision-making process for important proposed decisions in a timely manner. If a meeting isn’t scheduled in the near future, a dedicated meeting is arranged for the proposed decisions. Approval is sought before the proposed decision is actually made; no decision can be made without approval. In most cases, customers, parents, and the Customer Representative are involved during the concept and development phase, ensuring that customer perspectives are heard early on.
In this way, we fulfill the Client Representative’s right of approval pursuant to the WMZC Act of 2018. Implementation of Article 14 of the WMZC Act of 2018 The Act requires the organization to establish a Committee of Confidential Advisors consisting of three persons. This can be formed within the organization or be affiliated with the National Committee of Confidential Advisors (LCvV). Our organization is affiliated with the LCvV. If there are disagreements between the organization and the Supervisory Board (KR) regarding the exercise of the right of consultation, these may be submitted to the Committee of Confidential Advisors. Consultation Through Auditing Another important component of the 2018 WMCZ is that legal entities include in their articles of association the opportunity to give the Client Council, where a supervisory board exists, a binding nomination for the appointment of at least one member of the organization’s supervisory board. Our organization has included in its articles of association the mandatory nomination of the supervisory board by the Client Council. The Central Role of Customer Experiences The Customer Satisfaction Survey (KR) plays a significant role in learning and improvement within our organization. Below, we explain how the CTO contributes to deepening engagement. We commission an independent CTO every year. We involve the CTO in the selection process. We analyze the CTO results and document them in a report. We discuss the CTO’s findings with the CTO. We record which improvement recommendations the CTO, based on the CTO’s findings, makes to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors prioritizes these recommendations and reports on the actions taken regarding the recommendations at the CTO meeting.