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Ontario's doctors treat more than 400,000 people every day and these interactions are the foundation of our health system. Whether at the hospital, the long-term care facility, or the patient's home, doctors work hard to make sure Ontarians get the care they need. To help recognize the important work of Ontario's physicians, Reza Moridi, the Liberal MPP from Richmond Hill, successfully introduced a motion recognizing May 1 as Doctors' Day in Ontario in 2010. The date is symbolic: it's the birth date of Emily Stowe, Canada's first female practicing physician.

On Saturday, April 13th, the Patients' Association and Oakley & Oakley hosted To Err is Human: What Every Patient Should Know About Medical Errors. The purpose of the conference was to shed light on the nature of medical error in Canada, and many participants left feeling like they had gained a lot of information. We were lucky to have the expertise and perspective of speakers from many backgrounds including malpractice law, medical science, and risk management. Many of the speakers were happy to share their presentations; please find them attached below.

Five aspects of hospital care covered in CBC's patient feedback tool.

Charlie Smith -- Working as a B.C. coroner for 10 years, from 1993 to 2003, Susan McIver became well-acquainted with death. Over the phone from her home in Summerland, McIver emphasizes to the Straight that coroners don’t find fault—they merely report the facts. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t troubled by some of their grisly discoveries. “I saw things happen that shouldn’t happen,” she concedes... Read the full article here.

Yesterday, the first ever meeting of Patient and Family Advisers (PFAs) was held at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. Patient and Family Advisers from Thunder Bay to Halifax were there to get to know each other and work on issues that they felt strongly about. Everyone there wanted to build a strong national network of advisers in order to bring a helpful patient and family voice to healthcare.

Here's another edition of our most interesting reads of the week! Join us on Twitter @PatientsAssocCa or on Facebook to receive more frequent updates.

The Family and Patient Advisory Council at Sudbury's Health Sciences North have suggested a novel idea toward improving the patient experience in their emergency room. They've likened the idea to having "Wal-Mart greeters" in their emergency room. A staff member from Health Sciences explains the idea for the new role:

“It would be someone who would talk to you and say 'Can I get you a glass of water?' or 'You're cold. Can I get you a blanket? or 'Your situation seems to have worsened. Let me get the nurse, and she'll come and check you.' ”

We were delighted to come across this Globe and Mail article At Toronto's Mount Sinai, parents get a crash course in caring for their preemie.