The Home Care Bill of Rights
The Home Care Bill of Rights describes how people must be treated when they apply for home care or get home care through a Community Care Access Centre (CCAC).
The Home Care Bill of Rights says you have the right to:
- be treated with respect and to be free from abuse
- have your privacy and dignity honoured
- have your needs and preferences respected
- receive information about the services you get
- take part in decisions about your services
- consent to or refuse services
- comment or criticize, without anyone taking action against you
- receive information about home care laws and policies and
- know how to make a complaint, and have your home care records kept confidential
CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario) and ARCH Disability Law have developed a detailed explanation of the Home Care Bill of Rights. Click HERE to learn more.
What if Your Rights Are Violated?
If you think your rights under the Home Care Bill of Rights have been violated, you have the right to make a complaint. There is no time limit on complaints, but it is better if they are made as soon as possible.
The law says that every CCAC must have a way to deal with complaints. CCACs don’t all follow the same complaints process, so you should ask your care coordinatorCare Coordinator: also called a case manager, this is the person whose job it is to make sure that people who live in Community Care Access Centres receive proper services and have their needs met. to give you a written description of the complaints process for your CCAC.
If you are complaining about a particular decision, you should get the decision in writing from your care coordinator.
The law says you have a right to get copies of all documents the CCAC has about you. Before you complain, you should ask for a copy of all their documents. They might ask you to pay for these copies. If you think they are charging too much, or if they don’t give you the documents, you should contact a Community Legal Clinic for help.
Follow the Complaints Process for Your CCAC
Pay attention to deadlines in the complaints process, because if you miss a deadline it might stop you from being able to complain or force you to start all over again.
The first step of the complaints process will most likely be to have your care coordinator reconsider the decision he or she made. The care coordinator should give you the decision in writing.
If you are not happy with the decision, you can ask for another review by different people in the CCAC.
If you don’t like the second review, you can complain to an ombudsman. Ombudsman Complaint Form
If you are still not satisfied, you still might be able to appeal the decision to the Health Services Appeal and Review Board (HSARB).
However, if your concern is not one of the issues that can be decided by the HSARB, there are other options.
- Complain to the collegeCollege: the regulatory authority that oversees the rules for health professionals as they carry out their responsibilities.: If your complaint is about a health profession that is overseen by a regulatory collage, such as nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy or social work, you can complain to that profession’s college.
- Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO): If you believe you have been discriminated against on the basis of your religion, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability, you can make a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO).
- Ombudsman Ontario: The Ombudsman does not have the power to overturn decisions or change tribunal decisions, but if you believe you were treated unfairly by an administrative tribunal you can make a formal complaint with the Ombudsman. If the Ombudsman agrees, he can make recommendations to the tribunal to address the problem, and he can also make recommendations about government legislation, policies or programs. For more information on the powers of the Ombudsman over tribunals, go to:
- Police: If a worker has stolen from you, threatened you, physically assaulted you, or committed any crime against you, you should call the police.