Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)
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Emergency department (ED) overcrowding and long wait times are major concerns in health systems the world over. Many ED-focused innovations--such as revising staff mix, improving internal processes and exploiting decision-support software--have been implemented to address these complex problems, often with limited success. ⋯ By taking an organization-wide corporate approach to the challenge of patient flow throughout the hospital, St. Michael's has significantly improved key ED flow metrics for both its admitted and non-admitted patients.
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The purpose of this study was to identify supplementary criteria to provide direction when the Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic (OHPIP) critical care triage protocol is rendered insufficient by its inability to discriminate among patients assessed as urgent, and there are insufficient critical care resources available to treat those in that category. To accomplish this task, a Supplementary Criteria Task Force for Critical Care Triage was struck at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. The task force reviewed publically available protocols and policies on pandemic flu planning, identified 13 potential triage criteria and determined a set of eight key ethical, legal and practical considerations against which it assessed each criterion. ⋯ The task force concluded that the balance of arguments favoured only two of the 13 criteria it had identified for consideration: first come, first served and random selection. The two criteria were chosen in part based on a need to balance the clearly utilitarian approach employed in the OHPIP with equity considerations. These criteria serve as a defensible "fail safe" mechanism for any triage protocol.
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Wounds are a serious healthcare issue with profound personal, clinical and economic implications. Using a working definition of compromised wounds, this study examines the prevalence of wounds by type and by healthcare setting using data from hospitals, home care, hospital-based continuing care and long-term care facilities within fiscal year 2011-2012 in Canada. ⋯ Compromised wounds were reported in almost 4% of in-patient acute hospitalizations and in more than 7% of home care clients, almost 10% of long-term care clients and almost 30% of hospital-based continuing care clients. Patients with diabetes were much more likely to have a compromised wound than were patients without the disease.
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Since the release of the seminal work To Err Is Human in 1999, there has been widespread acknowledgement of the need to change our approach to patient safety in North America. Specifically, healthcare organizations must adopt a systems approach to patient safety, in which organizations take a comprehensive approach aimed at building resilient barriers and ensuring a culture of open communication and learning. ⋯ Baker et al. (2004) argued for the need to modify the work environment of healthcare professionals to better ensure barriers were in place, as well as the need to improve communication and coordination among healthcare providers. The changes proposed a decade ago required greater healthcare worker engagement in patient safety and the creation of a culture of patient safety.
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The deinstitutionalization movement in Canada began in the 1960s. It is defined as the process of discharging chronic mental health patients into the community in order for them to receive care from community mental health services. The deinstitutionalization movement is failing in Canada at this time for two main reasons: (1) the provinces' community mental health programs lack integration; and (2) the negative stigma attached to mental illness is still present in the community. This article will discuss ways to ensure the integration of first-line mental health services and the elimination of stigma through organizational and systemic changes in Canada.