Feedback is positive for Incident Reporting System

It is a pleasure to report that the roll-out of the Incident Reporting System (IRS) is proceeding well. This new online reporting software is used to track any and all incidents, defined as events that occur which are not part of the usual operation of the hospital. Current live sites are Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Street, and Greater Niagara General. Staff at St. Catharines General Site are now receiving training and it will be live there in early July. Welland Site is up next for training and should be live by September, with Douglas and Port Colborne sites following. It is projected that the new system will be fully implemented by late autumn.

So far, there has been positive feedback from frontline staff and leaders. Some staff  members are noticing that a few fill-in fields are different from initial training screens. This is because we are constantly improving the system to make it as user friendly as possible. Please send your suggestions to the contacts below and we will continue to make changes where appropriate.

Since going live, there have been 50 reports filed at NOTL, 62 at OSS and 112 at GNG. Currently, the most frequently reported issues are falls and medication omissions. The Risk/Patient Safety team is happy to assist in analyzing occurrences in departments and both systemic and isolated causes will be identified and assessed. We encourage staff to work with leaders to develop solutions to the issues that are occurring in your area. As well, our Patient Safety Committee is committed to working on strategies to reduce these occurrences across our system.

The number of reports will increase as staff become more familiar with the new IRS software reporting process. We would like to remind everyone of the NHS Fair and Just Culture Philosophy. The reporting of incidents is non-punitive and is an effective way to improve patient safety and care. IRS will provide us with more accurate data than ever before for bench marking and root cause analysis. There will also be improved efficiency and efficacy in generating reports and follow-up documentation.

Thank you for your ongoing support with this important project. We would also like to remind you to train it forward to expedite the training and implementation process. Please do not hesitate to contact Cindy Ko, Patient Safety Specialist, and/or IRS Support Brenda Colbow
with any questions.  «