Patient safety takes the spotlight at the Ross Memorial Hospital next week, as physicians, staff and patients learn more about the latest safety practices and industry initiatives. The week of October 8-13 is Canadian Patient Safety Week. This is a national campaign to raise awareness of patient safety programs, and share information about optimal safety practices, highlight patient safety champions and recognize successful initiatives. Every day from Tuesday to Friday, the Ross Memorial will be featuring awareness events and learning opportunities to draw attention to various national and provincial projects. 

From Tuesday to Thursday, events will be focused toward staff at the Ross, with lunch’n learns, a patient safety survey, draws and giveaways. Part of the education component for staff will feature 6 hospital interventions outlined by “Safer HealthCare Now!” This campaign is driven by  healthcare providers across Canada. Its aim is to provide further protection to patients by sharing best practices and improving treatment protocols at hospitals across the country. 

The 6 interventions include:

·        Implementing Rapid Response Teams (or Medical Emergency Teams):  these teams include  ICU, Emergency, and Respiratory staff who respond to calls from nurses who sense a patient’s health is rapidly deteriorating
·        Preventing Adverse Drug Events with Medication Reconciliation:  this program uses an inventory of a patient’s medication history to assist doctors when prescribing medication
·        Prevention of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection:  these guidelines are extra measures that help to prevent central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections 
·        Prevention of Surgical Site Infection:  these strategies have proven success in preventing surgical site infections in surgical patients
·        Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia:  guidelines known as the “VAP bundle” work to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia and other complications
·        Improved care for Acute Myocardial Infarction:  this strategy concentrates on techniques and best practices built around evidence-based care to prevent deaths from AMI  

The Ross implemented a Medical Emergency Team in February to respond to the Medical Unit. The pilot project has since expanded to cover the Surgical Floor. The response from nurses has been positive. They appreciate having immediate access to expert advice when a patient seems to be failing. During the MET pilot project, the average response time for the team was 6 minutes, and in more than 40% of the cases, the patient was transferred to the ICU for close monitoring.

The Ross has also established a Medication Reconciliation Program, this too, with great success.  Every time a patient over 65 years comes into the Emergency Department, a pharmacy technician conducts an interview to determine that patient’s “Best Possible Medication History”. She goes into the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan database to find the last ten  prescriptions ordered for that patient. She then double checks whether or not the patient is actually taking them, in the exact doses prescribed. This inventory helps doctors to prescribe the right medication for the patient and prevents bad reactions.

Planning to implement the other 4 “Safer HealthCare Now!” interventions is underway. Other measures implemented recently at the Ross include infection control practices, the falls prevention program, and patient identification assurances. 

A large component of Patient Safety Week involves the public. On Friday, the Ross will join the provincial launch of the Ontario Hospital Association’s campaign, “Your Health Care – Be Involved”. One of the most important elements of patient safety is communication between the patient and the health care provider. The campaign outlines five tips for patients to help them get more involved in their health care and get better outcomes from their visits to the doctor’s office, clinic or hospital. They are:

1. Be involved in your health care. Speak up if you have questions or concerns about your care.  
2. Tell a member of your health care team about your past illnesses and your current health condition.
3. Bring all of your medicines or a recent, accurate list with you when you go to the hospital or to a medical appointment.
4. Tell a member of your health care team if you have ever had an allergic or bad reaction to any medicine or food.
5. Make sure you know what to do when you go home from the hospital or medical appointment.
   
   The theme of Canadian Patient Safety Week is “Patient Safety: Be Involved. Ask. Talk. Listen.”
   The media is invited to attend this public launch to be held in the cafeteria at 12:00pm.