The policies, procedures and guidelines listed here are for use by all health service providers and agencies, including the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the Ministry of Health, health care organizations and the public.
The Health Services Policy and Procedures Document Library is designed to:
- Clarify and expand on legislative and regulatory provisions related to the operation and delivery of services provided by health service providers;
- Provide a record of ministry policies, procedures, and guidelines regarding programs and services provided by health service providers' operations; and
- Provide information that may form part of the basis of monitoring and/or evaluating programs and services.
You can find information related to a particular policy by clicking on links in the list below. Other relevant information that pertains to a policy may include guidelines or samples of agreements.
Categories of Documents
There are four categories or types of information contained within the electronic policy and procedure manual:
- Policy;
- Procedure;
- Guideline; and
- General Information.
The following are Saskatchewan Health's definitions of these categories for the purposes of this manual.
Policy
A policy is a statement of a mandatory course or method established by Saskatchewan Health that regional health authorities and health care organizations must comply with in their operations and decision-making.
Policies interpret or clarify legislative provisions (where further clarification or a description of process is necessary), or define those matters which are supplementary to specific legislation and are part of the ministry's mandate.
Policies define a required course of action. It is important to differentiate policy from those items which can be categorized as procedures, guidelines, or general information.
Procedure
A procedure is a series of steps to be followed or particular action(s) to implement to perform a function and may comply with policy or guidelines.
Guideline
A guideline is a statement or other explanation by which to set standards or determine a course of action. The guidelines may or may not be required to be followed in order to comply with policy.
General Information
General information is any additional information on a specific situation or topic which may be beneficial but is not required to comply with policy. This may include but is not limited to: educational material, ministry guidance or options for consideration.
The policies, procedures, guidelines, and general information contained on this page will be revised as changes occur.
The Ministry of Health reviews and revises all entries annually to ensure that all revisions have been included and obsolete policies have been removed.
Additions to the manual will be made as the process for documenting existing policies continues and new policies are developed.