2.3 million dollars dedicated to hospital safety

The Province of British Columbia is investing an additional 2.3 million dollars into developing a province wide learning system, that after a successful pilot testing program at the B. C. Women’s Hospital and at Vancouver General Hospital.

Designed as a reporting and learning tool, the program is the latest in a number of initiatives that the province has put in place as they continue their quest to improve patient safety. The programs were set up through the B. C. Patient Safety Task Force, which has been exploring ways to improve the interaction between patient and the medical system in the province.

The latest developments were examined in the Monday edition of the Daily News.

Province targeting hospital safety
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, November 5, 2007
Pages one and five

An additional $2.3 million is being invested by government into developing a province-wide safety learning system, says Health Minister George Abbott.

After the success of pilot-testing for the web-base reporting and learning system in the Neonatal Care Unit at B.C. Women's Hospital and in the Vascular and General Surgery Unit at Vancouver General Hospital, the province has decided to fund the start-up of the safety system across the entire province.

"We are committed to continuously looking for ways to improve patient safety throughout British Columbia," said Abbott.

"We need to learn from adverse events if we are to reduce risk-related incidents in hospitals and health facility settings."

The $2.3 million will allow the B. C. Patient Safety Task Force to begin the initial implementation of the patient safety learning system, which assists health professionals, health care workers and facility staff in reporting incidents.

The reporting and learning tool will be the first of its kind in Canada, and the pilot tests were evaluated by the Ministry of Health and the B. C. Patient Safety Task Force.

According to the government and Task Force evaluations, as a result of using the patient safety system, adverse events are more easily captured by more health professionals and support staff, and with greater accuracy.

Between May and July 2007, the system showed an increase in patient safety reports at

the B. C. Women’s Hospital.

The other pilot site, at Vancouver General Hospital’s Vascular and General Surgery Unit, also showed an increase in events recorded by health professionals and support staff between June and August.

“By providing health professionals with a system to identify concerns or incidents, we can ensure that patients have the safest environment where they receive care,” said Doug Cochrane, chair of the B. C. Patient Safety Task Force.

During Canadian Patient Safety Week in October, the government of British Columbia encouraged patients to take responsibility for their health by being actively involved through discussions with their doctor and health professionals. The theme of “Patient Safety: Be Involved. Ask. Talk. Listen” was promoted across the country by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and saw hundreds of health-care organizations and health professionals getting involved in addressing the role of good communication in health care.

Since 2001, British Columbia has introduced a number of new patient safety measures and strengthened existing safety measures, which included expanding the PharmaNet system as well as the creation of a Ministry of Health division dedicated to patient safety. In January 2005, the government announced $10 million in funding that would continue to make B. C. the safest place to be a patient, $6million of which went to support the Patient Safety Task Force, the Provincial Infection Control Network and the first academic Chair in Patient Safety at the University of British Columbia.