Consultation: Initial recommendations for the development of health care accessibility standards
The consultation is now closed. From May 7 to September 13, 2021, we asked for your feedback on the proposed standards to help make health care in hospitals more accessible for people with disabilities.
Background
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) was passed with unanimous support. Under this legislation, accessibility standards were set in regulation to prevent and remove barriers for people with disabilities in all areas of daily life. The standards apply to every organization with one or more employees in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
One of the functions of the AODA is to set out the legislated process for the development of new accessibility standards through Standards Development Committees. In Fall 2019, the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility resumed the Health Care Standards Development Committee — a group of representatives comprised of people with disabilities, disability organizations and sector experts — to develop recommendations for proposed accessibility health care standards for hospitals.
About the consultation
Accessible health care is essential for everyone in their day-to-day lives. The proposed health care standards address solutions to identify, remove and prevent accessibility gaps and barriers faced by people with disabilities throughout their patient journey within hospitals. Removing barriers will help ensure people with disabilities can enjoy the independence and dignity they deserve when receiving health care services in hospitals.
The committee has drafted initial recommendations that would inform the government’s work on proposed accessibility standards for hospitals.
The committee will review all feedback before it submits its final report and recommendations to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility for consideration.
Initial recommendations
The initial report contains 22 recommendations that the committee developed and on which it voted. The recommendations provide actionable guidance on how to integrate accessibility in health care planning and identify, remove and prevent recurring disability barriers.
Read the initial recommendations
Final recommendations
The Committee has reviewed all comments, finalized their recommendations and submitted them to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility for consideration.
As outlined by the act, the Minister shall decide whether to recommend to the Lieutenant Governor in Council that the proposed standard be adopted by regulation in whole, in part or with modifications.
Read the committee’s final recommendations.
Your privacy matters
The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility (the “Ministry”) is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31. The collection of your personal information is necessary under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 for the proper administration of the Ministry’s support of the Health Care Standards Development Committee’s (the “Committee”) work, which is consistent with the mandate of the Ministry. The optional personal information you choose to provide (e.g., email address and demographic data) and your feedback will be collected by the Ministry, anonymized and shared with the Committee. Your responses will be reviewed by the Ministry and the Committee to inform the Committee's advice to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. Survey results may also be used in a summary report at an aggregate level.
If you have any questions about the collection, use or disclosure of your information, please contact:
Alex Ibrahim
Manager of Standards Development Unit
Alex.Ibrahim@ontario.ca
If you have questions about the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, please contact:
FOI Co-ordinator
400 University Avenue, 2nd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2R9