Patient safety is certainly a big deal to Scarborough Health Network (SHN), but we’re not the only ones. In fact, there’s a whole week dedicated to patient safety in Canada. Led by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), Patient Safety Week (CPSW) is a national, annual campaign that started in 2005 to inspire extraordinary improvement in patient safety and quality. This year, Patient Safety Week is from October 26 and 30, and SHN is proud to be taking part once again!
There are so many ways that patient safety touches people’s lives, whether you are a patient, or the family member or caregiver of a patient, or a part of the healthcare team. When it comes health and health care, there are a number of safety topics and issues ” including medication safety, falls prevention safety, and even cultural safety. There’s also education around safety, and looking at growing trends such as virtual care, which has been more important than ever throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic.
To celebrate Patient Safety Week at SHN, we will be reviewing a different topic with our staff each day. This is part of our ongoing quality improvement journey, and is an opportunity for us to refresh our education and have important conversations with our teams.
You can have these conversations too! Here are some key facts and stats we encourage you to discuss with your family, your doctor, or your health care team.
A patient safety incident is one that could have resulted, or did result, in unnecessary harm to a patient. This includes anything that adversely affects the physical safety of patients, or has psychological impacts.
Did you know that patients who take active roles in their care are more satisfied, and see greater improvements in their health?
Three quarters of Canadians surveyed are interested in learning how to keep safe in healthcare, with 8 in 10 saying they would like to receive this information from a healthcare provider.
Virtual care is new for most people: only 10% of Canadians have experience with it, but 41% would like to have virtual visits with their healthcare providers. The way hospitals are providing care is changing – but encouraging patients to speak up is as important as ever. Asking questions is something we can all do to help make the most of virtual visits.
We also invite you to join CPSI’s Actioning Quality and Safety: 5 Goals to Align Canada on Quality and Patient SafetyWebinar on Friday, October 30 at noon. Panelists will share how we can all work together to accelerate quality and patient safety across Canadian health systems.
By celebrating and participating in Patient Safety Week and working together, we can help bring about safer and improved healthcare experiences. Because safety starts with each and every one of us.