The Huron Expositor, 1995-05-03, Page 5News and Views
Hospital begins quality review
BY TIM CUMMING
Expositor Editor
Seaforth Community Hospital
will be one of the first hospi-
tals to be evaluated under new
guidelines.
"We're taking a bit of a risk
but it's a move in the right
direction," said Bill Thibert,
Chief Executive Officer.
Thibert explained that the
Canadian Council on Health
Services Accreditation wants to
evaluate hospitals with a
greater emphasis on patients.
Although the local hospital
could have been evaluated
under the old rules this year, it
has chosen to be accredited
under the new guidelines.
Under the new standards,
there is less emphasis on indi-
vidual departments within the
hospital and more emphasis on
health care teams which cross
departmental lines.
The hospital accreditation is
a voluntary program. The
review of the Seaforth Com-
munity Hospital is scheduled
for Dec. 14 and 15.
Seaforth Community Hospital
is implementing a `Total Qual-
ity Management' model based
on one suggested the accredit-
ation body.
As part of the Total Quality
Management process the local
hospital formed a Quality
Council. As part of the Total
Quality Management process,
ten staff members from the
Seaforth facility were sent to a
joint hospital training work-
shop. The hospitals of Seaforth,
Clinton, Exeter and St. Marys
pooled their money to have a
New law seen
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
There isn't much substance to
the recent hullabaloo from
some quarters about changes in
provincial legislation regarding
powers -of -attorney, substitute
decisions and the Office of the
Public Guardian and Trustee.
That was the message from
officials from the London
office of that public guardian
and a local lawyer, who talked
about the nuts and bolts of
these changes at last Thursday
morning's regular meeting of
the East Huron Long -Term
Care Planning Committee at
Seaforth Community Hospital.
Lawyer Dave Murray, from
the Seaforth firm of
McConnell, Stewart &
Devereaux, said personal
choice, family dynamics and
practicality should still be the
determining factors of whether
an individual needs to
designate powers -of -attorney or
write a "living will".
"Human decisions have to be
made by humans," he said,
adding that if you are
comfortable with your next of
kin and that they will make
decisions based on your wishes
if you are incapable, there is no
pressing need to visit your
lawyer to protect yourself from
the recent legislative changes.
He gave several examples of
when designating powers -of -
attorney might be wise.
Single elderly people who
tend towards the reclusive
should consider designating, he
suggested, as should same-sex
couples. So should husbands
and wives who have different
values or beliefs, Murray said,
for example in regards to
matters such as blood
transfusions or Iifc support.
Jeannette Harrison and Phillip
Butterworth, both client
representatives from the
London -office of the recently
restructured Office of the
Public Guardian and Trustee,
said informal decisions are
encouraged and the province is
not seeking a larger roll in its
citizens' lives.
Harrison noted everything is
in flux at the moment because
the Substitute Decisions Act
was only passed a month ago
but the government's intent
remains to help those people
caught up in the grey areas,
whose interests need both
expression and protection.
She agreed her office has a
had reputation as being hard to
reach, and said the recent
restructuring is in part an
attempt to decentralize the
system and make it more
responsive.
"We arc collectively
committed to client service,"
she said.
"We're taking a bit
of a risk but it's a
move in the right
direction..."
consultant discuss concepts and
techniques of Total Quality
Management.
The hospital staff spent two
days at the workshop in the fall
of 1993 and two days in the
spring of 1994. There was also
one day spent at the individual
hospitals looking at quality
management.
As the Quality Council was
discussing the Total Quality
Management (TQM) process
the Canadian Council on
Health Services Accreditation
developed a TQM model. The
Quality Council in Seaforth
reviewed that model and intro-
duced one based on it.
The Quality Council started
with two pilot projects, or
`pockets of excellence.' One
was working on the delivering
of rehabilitation services.
Another was a plan to reduce
the number of times patients
fall down.
Thibert said a subsequent
reduction in falls by patients is
an example of the success of
the quality review process.
Quality monitoring teams are
to be in place at the hospital by
the end of May.Hospital _ staff
will be formed into a care
team, a support team and a
partnership team. The quality
monitoring teams will review
as no threat
Committee member Fran
Hook noted it was not difficult
to get in touch with Harrison,
and thanked her for making the
educational visit.
accreditation standards and will
later choose sub -teams.
The staff of Seaforth Com-
munity Hospital is being edu-
cated about the Total Quality
Management process this week,
said Thibert.
Lorraine Devereaux, dietician
and chairperson of the Quality
Council, spoke at the April 25
meeting of the Seaforth Com-
munity Hospital Board of
Directors.
Devereaux said it was
important to find a model of
Total Quality Management
which is appropriate for a
small hospital.
The local model is being
called `Q-TiP', which stands
for Quality, Teams and Part-
nership.
Devereaux said people will
be relied on for their ideas and
their "creative solutions in this
time of great change."
Past chairpersons of the
Seaforth Community Hospital
Board of Directors will be
named honourary members of
the hospital corporation.
The motion was approved at
the April 25 meeting of the
Hospital Board.
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, May 3, 1995-5
Committee identity crisis?
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
The East Huron Long -Term
Care Planning Committee is
having an identity crisis.
Three similar committees in
the county have recently
disbanded and another two now
meet only sporadically.
The local group regularly
meets once a month but is
wondering if itis all worth it,
especially since its Multi-
Servive Agency model was
recently rejected by provincial
Health Ministry officials for
not being committed enough to
fundamental restructuring.
Committee members were
disappointed at the small
turnout for last Thursday's
meeting, and accepted the
resignation of one member
with regrets.
Rev. Jim Sloan resigned, but
not before making a motion
that the Huron County Long -
Term Care Planning Committee
"actively seek publicity at their
level".
It was carried.
Committee member Ruth
Hildebrand wondered out loud
at one point if the local
committee should disband. She
outlined its many
accomplishments, however
modest, and noted a
discouraging question she is
I MASS TIME CHANGES ,1
as of Saturday, May 6, 1995
St. Columban Highway 8
Sundays 9:30 a.m.
St. James Seaforth
Saturdays 8:00 p.m.
Sundays 11:00 a.m.
For more information
call 345-24H, 527-0142
often asked is; "What has the
committee done?"
A discussion about publicity
and the requirements and
workings of modem media
followed.
Yvonne Kitchen, Chief
Nursing Officer at Seaforth
Committee Hospital, said she
now sees the local board's
function as educational. She
noted that although attendance
may be minimal, those who do
attend have a much broader
reach when the report back to
their respective organizations.
Committee member Marlen
Vincent said it looked like the
same old story; 20 per cent of
the people in most community
organizations do 80 per cent of
the work.
The committee is looking for
three consumer representatives
for various openings, but -there
were not enough consumer
representatives at last week's
meeting to make a decision.
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