On March 2, 2015, I said goodbye to the amazing people of Capital Health Nova Scotia, and joined the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI). It's been a whirlwind 12 months, and with the support of the board and staff members of CPSI, I personally feel as though I'm starting to make a meaningful contribution to the organization.

It's been a truly amazing year and I would like to share some of the highlights with you (in no particular order).

Never Events for Hospital Care in Canada

• Focussing attention on these incidents will go a long way towards ensuring they never happen again and signals Canada's commitment to patient safety and quality improvement. Read more

Canada's Virtual Forum on patient Safety and Quality Improvement

• In the past, I've attended Canada's Virtual Forum as a speaker and always marvelled at the ambition of pulling off such a complex virtual event. As the leader of the host organization, I have a new found appreciation for the amount of work that goes in to making sure every aspect of this enormous undertaking comes off without a hitch. Click here to access the archives.

Hospital Harm Indicators

• In partnership with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) we are working to provide significant benefits to patient safety in acute care.  As the release date draws closer, we'll ensure every one of our stakeholders knows about this ground breaking project.

SHN Bold

• Safer Healthcare Now! is currently undergoing a massive transformation to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of healthcare providers in our evolving system. Watch for our official launch this summer.

Partnership Meetings

• The spirit of collaboration and partnership is alive and well in the Canadian healthcare system. This past year, the senior management team at CPSI sat down face to face with many of our partners to get to know each other a little better. I believe these types of meetings will make for stronger working relationships moving forward.

Second Victim

• We held our highest attended webinar ever in April 2015, discussing the journey healthcare providers go through when they're involved in a patient safety incident. In place of patient stories, last year we recorded provider stories showcasing provider perspective when harm occurs.

Home Care

• Since its inception, CPSI has focused primarily on acute care settings, taking only baby steps into the world of home care, long-term care, etc. To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, we're about to turn a small step into a giant leap as we focus on home care like never before.  From the Home Care Safety Summit and the National Integrated Patient Safety Action Plan, to our revitalized Safer Healthcare Now!, we've made home care safety a major priority.

Aboriginal Patient Safety

• Unfortunately, many rural areas, especially Aboriginal and First Nation communities, don't have access to the same resources as more urban centres. Hand hygiene, for instance, isn't top of mind, when access to clean water isn't a given. We need to do a better job understanding the needs of these communities and providing them with specific patient safety tools that they can use to make a difference in the lives of their patients. This work has only just begun and we'll see much more on this in the coming year.   

National Patient Safety Consortium and Integrated Patients Safety Action Plan

• From a series of summits and roundtables attended by the movers and shakers in Canadian healthcare to an action plan that is coming to life thanks to the efforts of those very same experts and leaders, the past 12 months saw great strides in our combined efforts to improve the safety and quality of care in Canada. Work in this area is always underway and action plan deliverables are being checked off all the time please visit our website to find the latest.

Patients for Patient Safety Canada

• Ten years making a difference and still going strong. This amazing group of volunteers plays a role so pivotal that it's hard to put it into words to do them justice, but I'll make my attempt here. To me, they represent the beating heart of CPSI, and the hope, anguish, fear and anxiety of every patient, client and resident in the healthcare system. They remind us why we do what we do, and include the patient voice in everything that we put out to the world. I can't thank them enough for their contributions and wish them heartfelt congratulations on their upcoming ten-year anniversary.     

If this is what year one looks like, I can only imagine what this coming year has in store.  I look forward to connecting again.

Please feel free to contact me personally at cpower@cpsi-icsp.ca to discuss any patient safety issues that are on your mind.

Yours in patient safety,
Chris Power