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Hospitals under pressure to reveal C. difficile outbreaks
KAREN HOWLETT
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
May 9, 2008 at 5:41 AM EDT
TORONTO ? Patient advocates are calling on governments across the country to force hospitals to tell the public about the outbreak of a highly contagious superbug that claimed the lives of 62 patients at one Ontario health-care institution.
The province has the highest incidence of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, according to a study of 44 Canadian hospitals done by the Public Health Agency of Canada. But Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman was forced to acknowledge yesterday that he has no idea how many of the province's 157 hospitals are grappling with C. difficile.
Amid this week's news that a severe outbreak of the so-called Quebec strain of the disease led to 62 deaths at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Mr. Smitherman vowed to introduce mandatory reporting of such infections by the end of the year.
"I believe that moving forward with mandatory reporting will prove to be a very, very powerful enhancement to patient safety in the province," Mr. Smitherman told reporters.
But he is not moving nearly quickly enough, according to opposition members and the head of a union representing hospital cleaning staff, practical nurses and technicians.
The minister should have set up a system to have hospitals tell the public years ago about the number of patients who contracted C. difficile while in their care, said Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott, a former registered nurse.
"It is appalling that the Minister of Health doesn't even know how many deaths caused by C. difficile have taken place in Ontario," Ms. Scott said during Question Period.
Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Coalition of Hospital Unions, yesterday accused the minister of "foot dragging" on getting hospitals to disclose the numbers. "People should be able to make informed choices about hospitals they are taking their loved ones to."
Mr. Hurley also said downsizing and contracting out of cleaning services have contributed to a significant increase in hospital-acquired infections.
Phil Hassen, head of the Edmonton-based Canadian Patient Safety Institute, said every province should adopt similar disclosure measures. Currently, only Quebec and Manitoba have mandatory reporting for hospital infections. But he said one in 10 individuals admitted to a Canadian hospital comes down with an infection.
C. difficile is a particularly menacing infection that causes diarrhea and travels from person to person through hand contact. Patients can become infected after touching a contaminated surface and then touching their mouths.
Joseph Brant is among a handful of hospitals in Ontario that voluntarily report incidents of C. difficile. It reported the 62 deaths after an exhaustive investigation into 177 patients diagnosed with C. difficile over a 20-month period ending last December. The hospital will spend $1.4-million this year, about 1 per cent of its operating budget, on measures to combat infections.
While Joseph Brant has been hit with the highest known casualty rate in Ontario, it is not alone. Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie declared an outbreak of C. difficile in February, 2007, which led to the deaths of seven patients. The infection was also responsible for 10 deaths at a hospital in Sault Ste. Marie in 2006.
Hospitals under pressure to reveal C. difficile outbreaks
KAREN HOWLETT
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
May 9, 2008 at 5:41 AM EDT
TORONTO ? Patient advocates are calling on governments across the country to force hospitals to tell the public about the outbreak of a highly contagious superbug that claimed the lives of 62 patients at one Ontario health-care institution.
The province has the highest incidence of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, according to a study of 44 Canadian hospitals done by the Public Health Agency of Canada. But Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman was forced to acknowledge yesterday that he has no idea how many of the province's 157 hospitals are grappling with C. difficile.
Amid this week's news that a severe outbreak of the so-called Quebec strain of the disease led to 62 deaths at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Mr. Smitherman vowed to introduce mandatory reporting of such infections by the end of the year.
"I believe that moving forward with mandatory reporting will prove to be a very, very powerful enhancement to patient safety in the province," Mr. Smitherman told reporters.
But he is not moving nearly quickly enough, according to opposition members and the head of a union representing hospital cleaning staff, practical nurses and technicians.
The minister should have set up a system to have hospitals tell the public years ago about the number of patients who contracted C. difficile while in their care, said Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott, a former registered nurse.
"It is appalling that the Minister of Health doesn't even know how many deaths caused by C. difficile have taken place in Ontario," Ms. Scott said during Question Period.
Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Coalition of Hospital Unions, yesterday accused the minister of "foot dragging" on getting hospitals to disclose the numbers. "People should be able to make informed choices about hospitals they are taking their loved ones to."
Mr. Hurley also said downsizing and contracting out of cleaning services have contributed to a significant increase in hospital-acquired infections.
Phil Hassen, head of the Edmonton-based Canadian Patient Safety Institute, said every province should adopt similar disclosure measures. Currently, only Quebec and Manitoba have mandatory reporting for hospital infections. But he said one in 10 individuals admitted to a Canadian hospital comes down with an infection.
C. difficile is a particularly menacing infection that causes diarrhea and travels from person to person through hand contact. Patients can become infected after touching a contaminated surface and then touching their mouths.
Joseph Brant is among a handful of hospitals in Ontario that voluntarily report incidents of C. difficile. It reported the 62 deaths after an exhaustive investigation into 177 patients diagnosed with C. difficile over a 20-month period ending last December. The hospital will spend $1.4-million this year, about 1 per cent of its operating budget, on measures to combat infections.
While Joseph Brant has been hit with the highest known casualty rate in Ontario, it is not alone. Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie declared an outbreak of C. difficile in February, 2007, which led to the deaths of seven patients. The infection was also responsible for 10 deaths at a hospital in Sault Ste. Marie in 2006.
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