Safety
Every month the Quality Resource Team and the QM meet to identify and plan any required new processes or projects, and to monitor the existing activities within our quality management system (QMS). The QMS is set up to ensure patient and staff safety and to support continuous improvement.
During a recent review of worker injuries, we noticed a small increase in sharp object injuries over a six-month period. The injuries were varied and distributed among many areas so we could not identify a specific corrective action.
You may have heard this brought up at Safety Huddles and discussed the error prevention tool STAR (Stop Think Act Review) and the need to slow down at critical moments to keep safe.
The sharps safety continuum (from QFS01808Sharps Safety Training for LMP Staff):
- Prepare to use the device the moment the sharp is first exposed
- Take precautions while using sharps
- Take precautions during cleanup
- Take precautions during disposal
Quality
Speaking of that QMS of ours, it’s time for a regular internal audit of our QMS, technical, safety and many other processes.
We will once again tap into the volunteer internal auditors along with our QR team to facilitate as close to a peer assessment exercise as possible. Why, you may ask? Well the regular IQMH peer assessment visit will happen around this time next year so this gives us an opportunity at ‘dry-run’, especially for new staff or those in new roles. This activity will allow us to check back on corrections we have implemented to make sure they did the job and to look at any new processes we put in place to make sure they are producing the expected outcomes. We will share updates as we look toward IQMH 2020.
The Pathology Report 
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