HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Community Care and Assisted Living Act

1 Section 7 of the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 75, is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) (b) and substituting the following:

(b) operate the community care facility in a manner that will promote

(i) the health, safety and dignity of persons in care, and

(ii) in the case of adult persons in care, the rights of those persons in care; ,

(b) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraphs:

(c.1) display the rights of adult persons in care

(i) in a prominent place in the community care facility, and

(ii) in a form and in the manner acceptable to the minister;

(c.2) make the rights of adult persons in care known, orally and in writing, to persons in care and their families and representatives; , and

(c) by adding the following subsections:

(1.1) For the purposes of subsection (1) (b), (c.1) and (c.2), the rights of adult persons in care are the rights set out in section 1 of the Schedule.

(1.2) The minister may make orders for the purposes of subsection (1) (c.1) (ii).

2 Section 34 is amended

(a) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph:

(x) defining a word or expression used but not defined in this Act. , and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(7) In making a designation for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of "community care facility", the Lieutenant Governor in Council may do the following:

(a) designate a class of premises;

(b) provide that a designated premises or class of premises is subject only to one or more provisions of this Act and the regulations;

(c) modify one or more provisions of the regulations as the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers advisable.

3 The following Schedule is added:

Schedule

(Section 7)

Rights of adult persons in care

1 The rights of an adult person in care are as set out in clauses 1 to 5 of this section.

Commitment to care

1. An adult person in care has the right to a care plan developed

(a) specifically for him or her, and

(b) on the basis of his or her unique abilities, physical, social and emotional needs, and cultural and spiritual preferences.

Rights to health, safety and dignity

2. An adult person in care has the right to the protection and promotion of his or her health, safety and dignity, including a right to all of the following:

(a) to be treated in a manner, and to live in an environment, that promotes his or her health, safety and dignity;

(b) to be protected from abuse and neglect;

(c) to have his or her lifestyle and choices respected and supported, and to pursue social, cultural, religious, spiritual and other interests;

(d) to have his or her personal privacy respected, including in relation to his or her records, bedroom, belongings and storage spaces;

(e) to receive visitors and to communicate with visitors in private;

(f) to keep and display personal possessions, pictures and furnishings in his or her bedroom.

Rights to participation and freedom of expression

3. An adult person in care has the right to participate in his or her own care and to freely express his or her views, including a right to all of the following:

(a) to participate in the development and implementation of his or her care plan;

(b) to establish and participate in a resident or family council to represent the interests of persons in care;

(c) to have his or her family or representative participate on a resident or family council on their own behalf;

(d) to have access to a fair and effective process to express concerns, make complaints or resolve disputes within the facility;

(e) to be informed as to how to make a complaint to an authority outside the facility;

(f) to have his or her family or representative exercise the rights under this clause on his or her behalf.

Rights to transparency and accountability

4. An adult person in care has the right to transparency and accountability, including a right to all of the following:

(a) to have ready access to copies of all laws, rules and policies affecting a service provided to him or her;

(b) to have ready access to a copy of the most recent routine inspection record made under the Act;

(c) to be informed in advance of all charges, fees and other amounts that he or she must pay for accommodation and services received through the facility;

(d) if any part of the cost of accommodation or services is prepaid, to receive at the time of prepayment a written statement setting out the terms and conditions under which a refund may be made;

(e) to have his or her family or representative informed of the matters described in this clause.

Scope of rights

5. The rights set out in clauses 2, 3 and 4 are subject to

(a) what is reasonably practical given the physical, mental and emotional circumstances of the person in care,

(b) the need to protect and promote the health or safety of the person in care or another person in care, and

(c) the rights of other persons in care.

Complaints that rights have been violated

2 (1) In addition to any complaint that may be made under this Act, if a person in care believes that his or her rights have been violated, the person in care or a person acting on his or her behalf may submit a complaint under the Patient Care Quality Review Board Act.

(2) A complaint submitted under subsection (1) is a care quality complaint for the purposes of the Patient Care Quality Review Board Act.

Protection for persons in care

3 A licensee must not evict, discharge, intimidate, coerce, impose any pecuniary or other penalty on, suspend a service to, deny a right or benefit to or otherwise discriminate against a person in care because of a complaint made in relation to the person in care under this Act or the Patient Care Quality Review Board Act.

No right to sue

4 No right of action lies, and no right of compensation exists, by reason only of a violation of a right set out in this Schedule.

Hospital Act

4 Section 4 of the Hospital Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 200, is amended by adding the following subsections:

(3) Subject to the regulations, the Schedule to the Community Care and Assisted Living Act applies to

(a) an adult patient who resides in a private hospital licensed under Part 2, and

(b) an adult person who resides in an institution designated as a hospital for the treatment of persons referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of "hospital".

(4) A hospital described in subsection (3) must

(a) display in a prominent place in the hospital a copy of the rights applicable to adult patients as set out in the Schedule to the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, and

(b) make the rights referred to in paragraph (a) known, orally and in writing, to adult patients and their representatives.

5 Section 56 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3.01) For the purposes of section 4 (3), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) providing for the application to this Act of a word or expression used in the Schedule to the Community Care and Assisted Living Act;

(b) for the purpose of promoting the rights of adult patients, requiring a hospital described in section 4 (3) to comply with one or more requirements of a regulation made under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act and modifying those requirements as the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers advisable.

6 Section 4 (3) (a) is repealed.

7 Sections 4 (3) (b) and (4) and 56 (3.01) are repealed.

Commencement

8 The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table: