October 24-28, 2022, is Canadian Patient Safety Week. This year’s theme is “Press play on safety conversations” which focuses on safer care of older adults through safety conversations and actions. Healthcare Excellence Canada has created a webpage with resources for healthcare providers to help foster effective safety conversations with patients. ACP encourages pharmacy teams to review these resources.
According to Healthcare Excellence Canada, “Safety conversations are an important step in building a proactive patient safety culture. They’re a respectful discussion about safety between two or more people involved in organizing, delivering, and seeking or receiving care. Safety conversations help us understand what harm – as well as feeling and being safe – mean to all involved.”
ACP safety resources
ACP has also provided pharmacy professionals with several resources to assist in patient safety including learning modules, materials, and guidelines about drug error management. These resources are intended to help you incorporate preventative measures into your pharmacy before problems arise. The learning modules include information about Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to assist with quality assurance for pharmacy practice.
With the 2022-23 Alberta Influenza Vaccination Program underway as of October 17, it’s a good time to review ACP’s Guidelines for Medication and Vaccine Injection Safety.
Other safety resources
For information on drug recalls and safety alerts, visit the Health Canada website.
You can stay informed about new or emerging information about health product safety and effectiveness by subscribing to MedEffect Canada’s RSS feeds or e-Notices. You can also stay up to date about drug shortages and medication safety concerns by subscribing to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Safety Bulletins.
