Patient Safety

Patient safety has always been a top priority for Ontario hospitals, and the OHA's Patient Safety department is helping to extend that commitment even further by broadening the focus on safety to include quality of care. To do this, the OHA’s Patient Safety department works with Ontario hospitals to design, develop, and execute a number of different strategies dedicated to improving system-wide patient safety and quality of care.

The Patient Safety department at the OHA was formed in 2004 when the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced it would be Canada’s first province-wide Patient Safety Support Service.  The OHA managed this two-year project, and in doing so provided tools, education, information and training, with the goal of strengthening patient safety in Ontario hospitals.

While the initiative came to a close in 2006, its work created the foundation for today’s Patient Safety department, which is funded and managed by the OHA.  Through research, collaboration, and consultation, the department provides hospitals with innovative programs designed to improve quality of care and patient safety, and to raise awareness of patient safety issues throughout Ontario.

A History of Successes

The OHA has made significant progress in improvements to quality and patient safety in Ontario.  Some of its key accomplishments over the past five years include:

• Launch of the Your Health Care – Be Involved campaign for the acute, home and community sectors.
• Launch of the Clean Hands Protect Lives campaign.
• Development of the Quality of Care Information Protection Act (QCIPA) Toolkit I and II (2004).
• Publication of the Ontario Guide to Disclosure (2008).
• Partnered with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) to develop the Patient Safety in Mental Health Paper (2009).
• Provided resources to assist hospitals with the public reporting of the eight patient safety indicators identified by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
• Development of a series of on-going education programs such as conferences, workshops, courses on quality and patient safety priorities in Ontario.
• Publication of Quality and Patient Safety: Understanding the Role of the Board.
• Assisted hospitals with the public reporting of quality indicators, particularly through Hospital Report, the government’s patient safety indicator initiative, and myhospitalcare.ca.
• Reported quality indicators for performance improvement and accountability through Hospital Report and the Health System Facts and Figures website.
• Worked with LHINs and JPPC on Accountability Agreements.