Canadian Patient Safety Week 2023
Canadian Patient Safety Week 2023
October 23-27 is Canadian Patient Safety Week! It’s the perfect time to reflect on our responsibility to ensure the safety of thousands of patients who trust us with their health every day, across our national network of supports for substance use and addictions.
Because the safe and accurate administration of medication is an integral part of treatment and safe detox for substance use disorder, we’ve implemented a number of steps and procedures to ensure our clinic patients get the right dose, every time:
Our Quality and Continuous Improvement team are also tirelessly dedicated to patient safety, ensuring our national care team have the training and tools they need to keep the people we serve safe from harm, including:
- Consistent incident reporting
- Peer quality improvement program
- Ongoing training and development
- Regular patient and client satisfaction surveys
- Naloxone kit distribution program
Because of these policies, and because of the care and attention our staff demonstrate for our patients, we’re proud to maintain an extremely low incident rate.
We recently launched an exciting new initiative: our Clinic Peer Quality & Compliance program, providing learning and growth opportunities for our care teams. This program is already having a real impact on patient safety across our network of 74 rapid access outpatient treatment centres.
We’re grateful to our incredible care teams across the country for keeping the wellbeing of our patients top of mind, and making CATC a trusted healthcare provider for substance use and addictions.
This year’s theme is Small Changes. Big Impact. Better Care.
Healthcare Excellence Canada is asking, what more can we do? What small changes can we make to go even further for the safety of our patients? We’re posing to our care teams:
- Are your actions and behaviours contributing to safety and inclusivity?
- Can you make our patients feel more comfortable?
- Is our care culturally sensitive?
- Do your patients have questions about their safety? Should you check in with them?
- Is there information or practices you can share with our patients to keep them safer?
By simply asking ourselves these questions, we’re bringing greater awareness to how each of our interactions impact patient safety. Our patients are key players in their own healthcare. It’s important we continue to ensure they understand the risks related to their treatment, and what responsibilities they have for their safety outcomes.
We asked our teams what patient safety means to them
Read our interview with Rebaa Ali-Sherif, Coordinator for our new Clinic Peer Quality & Compliance Program.
Read our interview with Kason Chan, Pharmacy Manager at TRC Front St Pharmacy and TRC Crescent St Pharmacy.
Read our interview with Marissa Wells, a participant in our new Clinic Peer Quality & Compliance Program
Read our interview with Kylie Cordick, a member of our Quality & Continuous Improvement team.
We’re all champions in patient safety!
If you’re interested in learning more, we encourage you to visit Healthcare Excellence Canada for resources and discussions about improving patient safety.
Thank you once again to our staff for making CATC a safe and trusted resource for addiction care. We’ve achieved this through each and every one of their individual actions, every day.
Happy Canadian Patient Safety Week!