New patient safety, quality rules coming into force for health services
Regional health authorities, Diagnostic Services Manitoba and CancerCare Manitoba are now required to be accredited by an approved, independent quality and safety organization and must now post their accreditation results online to improve accountability and transparency. This announcement was made by Health Minister Theresa Oswald. The minister has proclaimed Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 Patient Safety Week in Manitoba.
“We’ve focused on finding ways to improve patient safety across our province. Posting this valuable information online will ensure Manitobans can review how their local RHA, CancerCare and DSM are meeting national patient safety and quality standards, and how they are working to improve health care,” said Oswald.
The new patient safety and quality rules were approved today under recent amendments to the Regional Health Authorities Act.
Accreditation involves the review by an outside independent organization, such as Accreditation Canada, of facilities and health services for various quality and safety practices such as medication safety, and implementation of surgical checklists, safe communication processes, infection control standards and fall prevention measures.
“The posting of the accreditation results is about making these organizations more open and accountable to the patients, families and communities they serve,” noted Oswald.
The minister also announced this year’s Manitoba Health patient safety report is now available online. It includes updated information on critical incident reporting across the province. The report found, over the last two years, the number of incidents reported has decreased slightly, to 526 in 2011-12 from 649 in 2009-10.
“Reporting and investigating the incidents that occur allows us to learn from what has taken place and make quality changes to prevent a recurrence,” said Oswald.
“Patients and families play a crucial role in helping to make our health-care system more safe,” the minister said. “We want families to be comfortable asking for their medical records, listing the medications they take and asking their doctors and health-care professionals about their concerns, thoughts and opinions to ensure they understand their health condition and treatment and feel safe.”
Manitoba Health’s annual safety reports can be found at: www.gov.mb.ca/health/patientsafety/report.html. The Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety’s website is www.mbips.ca/wp.
