Good Morning UHNers
There are two items that I want to mention this morning in ALL-UHN.
The first is the work of a very large team who have been working on the C. difficile outbreak in the CVICU which has a ripple effect through the hospital as ICU beds are out of service while the area is being repeatedly cleaned. I know that everyone has worked together with the safety of the patients at the heart of all efforts – those on the unit at the present time and the patients who need to come to us for the cardiac and vascular care that the unit provides. Our efforts are coordinated with representatives of the antibiotic stewardship program at UHN and Toronto Public Health. Our patients and families have been kept informed, the MSICU, CCU and Surgical staff have done whatever they can to assist. The leadership efforts of Dr. Susy Hota, Scott McIntaggart and Dr. Barry Rubin are very much appreciated. Daily meetings will continue over the weekend and the plan is to open four beds on the unit on Tuesday.
The second item is not as pleasant. We have been dealing with a breach of a patient's privacy because some staff members chose to look at the medical records of someone who was not their patient. UHN as an organization has done a great deal to provide systems that protect a patient's privacy but it is always an individual choice to look at another persons' medical record. Ontario's Privacy Commissioner calls it "snooping" and that is an accurate description.
A number of media outlets have run with the story of the privacy breach. I hope that the focus on patient privacy from outside the hospital will support what we're doing to protect our patients' privacy and remind all of us that patients, family members, and the public rely on us to ensure the privacy of people who come to us for care.
Thank you for your commitments to patient safety and our collective efforts protect the privacy of our patients.
Peter
