The Canadian Patient Safety Institute launched Canadian Patient Safety Week as a national annual campaign in 2005 as part of its mandate to build and advance a safer health system for Canadians. Patient safety is priority one at the Ross Memorial Hospital. We look forward to highlighting a variety of patient safety measures at the Hospital between September 29th and October 3rd. This year, the theme of Patient Safety Week is "Knowledge is the Best Medicine. Ask. Talk. Listen." The goal is to raise awareness of patient safety issues, related programs and projects happening across Canada - at national, regional and local/organizational levels. 

Throughout the week, inpatients will receive information about Canadian Patient Safety Week, in the form of a placemat on their meal trays. This placemat teaches patients how they can ask, talk and listen better, to get the best results from every health care experience.

Each day between 11am and 2pm, the Hospital will play a special presentation in the cafeteria, one which shows potential hazards and corresponding safety initiatives. This will draw the attention of staff, patients and visitors over the lunch period.

On Tuesday and Thursday, displays in the main lobby and the cafeteria will invite participants to test their hand hygiene. How hard can it be to wash your hands properly? You might be surprised!

On Wednesday, October 1st, staff is invited to attend "My Leaky Body - perspectives from a stretcher". This presentation chronicles Julie Devaney's experience in and out of emergency rooms with undiagnosed ulcerative colitis. The goal of the presentation is to create an environment in which medical practitioners enter into her experience as a patient.

Staff will have the opportunity to test their knowledge of patient safety on Thursday and Friday, playing detective in the "House of Hazards". The RMH classroom will be transformed into a room full of potential problems. It's up to the employees to identify them all.

The media is invited to visit the Ross Memorial Hospital during Canadian Patient Safety week, and learn more about these initiatives. We also invite the public to visit the new "Quality & Patient Safety" section of the RMH website. Here, visitors can see the Hospital's patient safety scores, and learn about our patient safety initiatives. To learn more about Canadian Patient Safety Week, or to locate media tools, such as interviews, photos, etc., please visit http://www.patientsafetyweek.ca/.