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About Bloorview

Policies & Practices: Patient Safety

Patient (client) safety has become a priority across the world, in Ontario, and at Bloorview Kids Rehab. Bloorview has formalized its commitment to patient safety by employing a Patient Safety Co-ordinator that works on implementing a range of required organizational practices, relating to patient safety, under the themes of organizational culture, communication, medication use, work life/workforce and infection control.

Patient safety is a movement engaging everyone involved in health care to improve patient safety practices in order to prevent adverse events in the delivery of health care.  Adverse events are unintended complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health-care provision.

According to Dr. Peter Lachman, consultant pediatrician to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the delivery of safe health care for children is different for numerous reasons, including:

  • Dependence
  • Vulnerability
  • Lack of a voice
  • Variation on consent
  • Lack of clinical data (for example, extrapolation of drug dosages)
  • Lack of facilities and equipment
  • Multi-agency interaction and working

Patient Safety Public Reporting

Bloorview publicly reports our hospital acquired infection rates on our website http://www.bloorview.ca/about/policies/reporting.php and submits our rates to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to be posted on www.ontario.ca/publicsafety.

You can Participate in Patient Safety

  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 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 from your medical appointment.

These tips are also available in 12 more languages and were developed by the Ontario Hospital Association's Patient Safety Support Service and funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care:

English Patient Safety Tips Video (Apple QuickTime Movie)

  • Family Corner
  • Youth Corner
  • Kids Corner

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