Our Accreditation 2015 Journey PG 2
A boost for St. Peter’s restorative care
McMaster Children’s launches free legal service
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PG 4
June 4, 2015
News. Events. Achievements.
HEALING SOUNDS I f you listen closely in the hallways of McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH), you might just catch the strumming of an acoustic guitar and a voice that is sure to brighten your day. Music therapist Adrian Mollica spends his Tuesdays and Thursdays with young patients at MCH on behalf of Fermata Music Therapy. Through his music Adrian finds a unique connection with each of the patients. “It has this really wonderful, non-threatening and engaging way of interacting
with the kids,” explains Adrian. Ultimately, the goal of music therapy is to positively affect both the child and their family, and to take their minds away from what has brought them to the hospital. In addition, Adrian provides the family opportunity for relaxation while he’s interacting with a child. Reed Wales (pictured above), 18 months, was diagnosed with Leukaemia and is currently a patient at MCH. Adrian has had many visits with Reed, and the Wales
family is overjoyed with the effect that the music has had thus far. “He gets so engaged with the music,” says Reed’s father, Brett Wales. “Even earlier, Adrian was holding down the chords while Reed was strumming the guitar. He loves it!” Reed’s favourite songs are “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Jesus Loves Me”. His usual reaction is to giggle, smile, and sometimes even fall asleep on his dad’s shoulder.
“Being able to put a smile on [the kids’] faces, engaging them in fun and improving their quality of life is invaluable.” ADRIAN MOLLICA MUSIC THERAPIST FERMATA MUSIC THERAPY/ MCMASTER CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
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CHEDOKE • CHILDREN’S • GENERAL • JURAVINSKI • McMASTER • ST. PETER’S • WEST LINCOLN
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OUR ACCREDITATION 2015 JOURNEY
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uality in health care is about more than numbers and benchmarks. Quality is what we, as individuals, would want and expect for ourselves, our loved ones, our friends. It’s fueled by a desire to improve and sense of curiosity that asks, “How can we do better?” Most importantly, quality is driven by people who care. Over the years, many of us have experienced the evolution of Accreditation from an “event” to its present day format: a multi-year continuous quality improvement journey. On June 8-12, our Accreditation 2015 journey wiLL culminate with our on-site survey, when surveyors from Accreditation Canada will visit our organization to assess our progress in quality improvement since our last survey in 2011. Some of the key Accreditation processes that we have applied during our current journey have included:
• The completion of the My Voice Matters (MVM) staff & physician engagement surveys in Fall 2012 & 2014, which provided valuable insight into the factors that we find most important to quality of worklife. • The MVM survey feedback guided improvement initiatives such as the launch of the HHS employee wellness program Shine (Supporting Health IN Everyone), the establishment of Employee Wellness Centres at each site and, more recently, the launch of the Centre for People Development. Work-life achievements measured during this Accreditation cycle included a 50 per cent reduction to
lost-time injury rate. • The completion of the Patient Safety Culture Survey in March 2014, the results of which showed that our ongoing efforts had matched or surpassed our results from 2010. Stand-out improvement was seen in the results for questions that focussed on how we learn from our errors and, as a team, make improvements. New questions added to this survey measured staff perceptions of repercussions that follow an error. Adjustments were made to our ongoing Patient Safety education programs and Patient Safety Leadership Walkarounds to guide conversations and better understand, and respond to fears of making errors, and to reinforce our “Just Culture” of Patient Safety at HHS. • In the past year, teams across HHS completed Self Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs) specific to types of care and services, and reflected on their results, which provided valuable information on day-to-day patient safety practices on units. • Prior to the on-site survey, our final source of feedback on the success of our Accreditation continuous improvement journey were the “mock” tracers”. Trained by Accreditation Canada, over 50 of our colleagues applied the evaluation technique used by surveyors to test for understanding and uptake of standards and practices relevant to each area. This helped many staff build comfort and confidence with the surveyors’ tracer approach in preparation for the onsite survey.
The On-Site Survey that takes place next week will focus on the extent to which recognized best healthcare practices and processes are in place and applied consistently across HHS. On-site surveyors will also be paying attention to processes that are applied at HHS to ensure that, every day, we are striving to deliver even better care and service to our patients, their families and our community. On a daily basis, staff participate in improvement processes such as Safety Huddles and the use of Safety Calendars and Quality Boards, and our Occurrence Reporting and Follow-Up processes. Patient Safety Leadership Walkarounds, Unit Practice Councils and Program Quality Councils drive improvement to improvement work specific to patient populations, clinical practice, patient flow, and work flow. Improvement work at HHS from the boardroom to the frontline is enabled by data collection and management systems that can be used to inform improvement decisions and action at every level of the organization: from senior leader decisions based upon staff engagement and patient experience data, to unit-level decisions to improve their hand hygiene and purposeful rounding compliance rates. We’ve accumulated a great deal of improvement throughout this 48-month Accreditation journey. Next week’s on-site survey is our chance to confidently share all that has been accomplished.
CHEDOKE CHEDOKE •• CHILDREN’S CHILDREN’S •• GENERAL GENERAL •• JURAVINSKI JURAVINSKI ••McMASTER McMASTER •• ST. ST. PETER’S PETER’S •• WEST WEST LINCOLN LINCOLN
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A contribution to quality care
A boost for St. Peter’s restorative care
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ertrud Taunton is no stranger to the importance of excellent patient care. In fact, she operated her own physiotherapy business for 40 years before retiring to spend more time with her loved ones. Several years ago, Gertrud’s husband, Norman, was a patient at St. Peter’s Hospital (SPH). The high level of patient care he received made a strong impression on her. “St. Peter’s Hospital has been close to my heart for many years,” says Gertrud. “My husband was treated here and looked after very well for three weeks before he passed away. He couldn’t have had any better care anywhere else in the whole country.” After Norman’s passing, Gertrud expressed her gratitude by giving annual donations to St. Peter’s
Hospital. Upon learning that the second floor gymnasium at St. Peter’s was a priority area in need of renovation, she was pleased to offer a gift of $100,000 to help refurbish the facility. Fittingly, Gertrud’s gift comes in time for June, which is Seniors’ Month in Ontario. “The Restorative Care staff are still in shock but extremely grateful for Gertrud Taunton’s generous gift,” says Brenda St. Amant, Clinical Manager of Rehabilitation. “Physiotherapy is a key component to every patient’s rehabilitation program. The physiotherapy gym has not seen any changes in several years, so Gertrud’s donation will help us create a more organized and positive space to be enjoyed by all of our patients, their families and our staff.”
Pictured, from left: Gertrud Taunton; Brenda St. Amant, clinical manager, rehabilitation, St. Peter’s Hospital; and Heather Scott, director, development, St. Peter’s Hospital Foundation.
trud, but her motivation for making the donation has nothing to do with recognition. Gertrud feels that she is simply doing the right thing. “Without donations, the hospital cannot function properly because it cannot update any facilities,” says Gertrud. “The government doesn’t pay for everything. Individual donors need to step up to the plate and make a contribution.”
A plaque will be displayed outside of the gym in honour of Norman and Ger-
CHEDOKE CHEDOKE CHEDOKE •• CHILDREN’S CHILDREN’S • CHILDREN’S •• GENERAL GENERAL • GENERAL •• JURAVINSKI JURAVINSKI • JURAVINSKI ••McMASTER McMASTER •McMASTER •• ST. ST. PETER’S PETER’S • ST. PETER’S •• WEST WEST LINCOLN LINCOLN
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Partners in good will
McMaster Children’s Hospital launches free legal service
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cMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH) has partnered with Pro Bono Law Ontario (PBLO) and three Hamilton legal firms to provide a unique free legal service to qualifying families of patients. While law and medicine may not seem like natural bedfellows, often there are legal remedies to medical problems associated with poverty or disadvantage. Examples of these problems might be chronic conditions such as asthma being exacerbated by substandard housing; children with autism facing expulsion because they can’t access special education supports; or parents might face job loss resulting from the amount of time needed to attend at a child’s bedside.
Since launching last fall, the partnership has served more than 30 patients and their families. The partnership with PBLO includes the services of three Hamilton law firms: Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP and Ross & McBride LLP. PBLO Triage Lawyer, Hilary Mack, is embedded in MCH’s Main Street West and Chedoke sites two days each week. Hilary trains clinicians on legal issue spotting, and meets with families on-site to assess the nature and severity of their legal problems. She provides summary advice and brief services to the families and refers complex cases to the three firms who have agreed to accept files on a pro bono basis.
Pictured, from left: Colleen Fotheringham-Anderson, Rob MacIsaac, Jennifer Zdriluk, Hilary Mack, Mark Tamminga, Hugh Tye, Dr. Peter Fitzgerald and Lynn Burns.
are at risk of increased vulnerability when confronted with health problems. They are too overwhelmed or do not have the wherewithal to address their unmet legal needs (for reasons associated with poverty, marginalization, immigration status and/or domestic abuse). In 2013 Accreditation Canada recognized the model as a Leading Practice. “I’m so pleased to see the medical and legal professions working together to improve the lives of Hamilton’s sick children and their families,” Dr. Peter Fitzgerald, president of McMaster Children’s Hospital, said at the official launch on May 28.
The rationale behind the model is that families of modest means
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Music therapy “It gives us a break,” says Brett. “The music distracts us from why we’re here and allows us to relax as a family.” Adrian attended Berklee College of Music where he obtained his Bachelors in Music with a major in Music Therapy. Once he was at Berklee, Adrian knew that he wanted
to continue his work down a more meaningful path. Helping those who are ill and vulnerable is exactly what he was looking for. “Being able to put a smile on [the kids’] faces, engaging them in fun and improving their quality of life is invaluable.”
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CHEDOKE • CHILDREN’S • GENERAL • JURAVINSKI • McMASTER • ST. PETER’S • WEST LINCOLN