EN | 1 min
Backlog! A word that can call up a range of emotions: frustration, worry, shame, or anger. Backlogs become a reality when more cases come into an organization than can be actioned with existing processes and staffing and within standard service timelines. Addressing unactioned cases in an ombuds office becomes nearly impossible if complaint volumes continue to rise and staff experience compassion fatigue or burn-out.
When I joined Patient Ombudsman in 2022, there was a daunting backlog of health care complaints that had arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet we successfully battled the backlog in less than a year: Meeting the Call – Patient Ombudsman Annual Report 2023/24.
If you are wondering how we did this, here are some of the backlog elimination strategies I deployed around the theme of BE BRAVE. Be brave about:
- Taking on what is a daunting task
- Seeking inspiration in unlikely places
- Being the squeaky wheel about the priority of battling the backlog
- Trying things that might not work (and pivoting when they don’t!)
- Asking for a lot from your team and leadership, and
- Focussing on the future – an opportunity to advocate for fairness without the burden of a backlog.
Those who attended my workshop Dealing with the Dreaded Backlog: How Patient Ombudsman Eliminated its COVID19 Backlog in 2022-23 at the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman conference in 2024 or attended the Effective Complaints Handling series in summer 2025, will have heard me talk about some of the other strategies we used. Please reach out if you are interested in running this workshop for your team, or in having a custom consult on your organization’s backlog.