Understanding Your Care

Being moved to a different unit

While we will do our best to meet your needs and preferences, you may be moved to a different area of the hospital to ensure you receive the best care possible, or if another patient is in great need of care in that particular area. If you or your family have questions about being moved to a different unit, please ask a member of your health-care team.

When you are moving, the health-care teams will communicate with each other regarding your care needs and treatment goals. You and your family are encouraged to ask as many questions as needed in order to feel comfortable with your care.

We appreciate your understanding when these situations arise.

Emergency and life sustaining treatments

Understanding your wishes and our practice

We will ask you about your care wishes if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. The hospital team needs to know your wishes should you have an emergency while in hospital. All patients are asked about their end-of-life wishes upon on admission to hospital. It is our obligation to listen to your wishes and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

For more information about Resuscitation, please read Understanding Resuscitation.

Substitute Decision-Maker (SDM)

Patients who are very ill and are unable to make treatment decisions will require a close family member or friend to be designated as the Substitute Decision-Maker (SDM), guided by the Health Care Consent Act. The SDM must make decisions based on prior expressed wishes of the patient. If the SDM does not know of a wish applicable in the situation, or it is impossible to follow the wish, the SDM must act in the patient’s best interests. Please ask a member of the health-care team for more information.

Lab Test Reporting

London Health Sciences Centre has joined the Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS).

OLIS is a secure information system that allows health care providers (hospitals, community laboratories, public health laboratories and practitioner) to instantly and securely share lab results.

There are many benefits to patients:

  • Timely and complete lab information will improve care
  • Less duplication of lab tests
  • Fewer gaps in patient information as the patient moves between hospital, family physician, and long-term care home, for example
  • Reduced lab result wait times

At this time more than 40 laboratory groups, in Ontario, including hospitals and private labs are sending their data to OLIS. OLIS is a component of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s eHealth Strategy and the creation of an electronic health record for Ontarians.

London Health Sciences Centre is very serious about ensuring the privacy and security of your personal health care information. If you wish to restrict access to your information on OLIS, please contact Service Ontario at 1-800-291-1405 (TTY 1-800-387-5559).