Information about Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is an ongoing priority that helps us continually find new and better ways of doing things so that we can enhance care for patients, increase satisfaction and achieve even better clinical outcomes.
Our Quality Improvement Plan, or QIP, is one tool that we are using to help us document and review our current performance in a variety of areas. With this plan, we will be able to very clearly see our targeted areas for improvement and chart our progress.
Background on the Quality Improvement Plan
In June 2010, the Ontario Government passed the Excellent Care for All Act. This legislation will help support hospitals to further improve the quality and safety of care they provide for members of our community.
One of the ways that the Excellent Care for All Act is helping hospitals meet our community’s expectations regarding quality, patient safety and accountability is through the public reporting of Quality Improvement Plans (QIP).
Quality Improvement Plans provide a meaningful way for the Winchester District Memorial Hospital to clearly articulate our accountability to our community, patients and staff. Our QIP is focused on creating a positive patient experience and delivering high quality health care.
How to Read the Quality Improvement Plan
Our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is made up of two parts:
1. A document that provides a brief overview of our quality improvement plan, highlighting and listing our hospital’s top priorities for the year.
2. A spreadsheet that includes our improvement targets and initiatives. The spreadsheet includes a core set of indicators that all similar hospitals across the province are working on.
We have also provided a progress report for our 2011-12 QIP (year one)
The Ontario Health Quality Council has requested that all hospitals report on a series of core indicators to support province-wide comparisons. The priority indicators that apply to the Winchester District Memorial Hospital are reflected in our QIP and are also listed below:
Safety:
- Improve provider hand hygiene compliance (before and after patient contact)
- Reduce use of physical restraints
Access:
- Reduce wait times in the Emergency Department
Integration:
- Reduce Alternate Level of Care days
The QIP is only one of the ways we are working to improve our patients’ experiences. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
Lynn Hall, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services and
Chief Nursing Executive/Professional Practice Leader