Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins is demanding more transparency in the health system and has told the province’s 23 health regulatory colleges and 36 public health units that he wants investigations and inspections made public.
Hamilton Spectator
By
Theresa Boyle
Health Minister Eric Hoskins is introducing
sweeping measures to make Ontario's health system more transparent.
He told the The Toronto Star on Saturday
that he has put the province's 36 public health units and 23 colleges
that regulate health professionals on notice that he wants investigation
and inspection reports made public.
The move follows a series of stories in the
Star about patients developing life-threatening infections during
outbreaks at four Toronto pain and colonoscopy clinics. Toronto Public
Health (TPH) investigated the outbreaks and the College of Physicians
and Surgeons inspected the clinics, but their reports have been kept
secret.
"It is clear that our system must become
more transparent," Hoskins said, adding the new measures will allow
Ontarians to find out if clinics have had problems with infection
control and whether patients have suffered illnesses or died.
"I see my top priority as minister as
protecting the safety and well-being of Ontarians. An important part of
that is them having access to information which is going to allow them
to make the right decisions for their health and well-being," he said.
The minister said he has asked Toronto
Public Health to immediately make its investigation reports on the
outbreaks at four pain and colonoscopy clinics available to the public
by posting them on its website. At least 20 patients developed serious
infections, including meningitis and hepatitis C, in these outbreaks.
Hoskins said he is amending the Ontario
Public Health Standards to require mandatory public reporting of
inspection and investigation reports.
He also plans to improve oversight of
clinics with a view to improving patient safety. He has asked for advice
on this from Health Quality Ontario, an independent government agency
that assesses and reports on quality in different parts of the health
system.
Pain, endoscopy and other community clinics
are making up a bigger part of the province's health system as hospitals
continue to shrink.
On Saturday, Hoskins sent letters to the 23
health self-regulatory colleges, such as the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, asking them to fully disclose information about investigations
they conduct. Similar letters were also sent to three transitional
councils (for practices, such as homeopathy, that are on their way to
becoming self-regulated).
Hoskins asked the regulatory colleges and
councils to develop new transparency measures to assist Ontarians in
making informed decisions about their care. He wants them to report back
by Dec. 1 on specific measures they plan to undertake.
Hoskins also sent letters to the 36 public
health units across the province asking them to be fully transparent in
conducing investigations and reporting results. They have also been told
to get back to him with their plans by Dec. 1.
In recent weeks, a Star investigation has
revealed that patients of the Rothbart Centre for Pain Care have
developed serious infections, including meningitis and epidural
abscesses. A Toronto Public Health probe found nine people were infected
from August to November 2012 and that there were 170 infection-control
deficiencies.
The TPH investigation report was never made
public. The Star obtained it from a patient who developed disabilities
after getting infected at the clinic. She received it only after being
told to file freedom-of-information request for it.
The Star also discovered that 11 patients
have contracted hepatitis C during outbreaks at three colonoscopy
clinics since 2011. TPH investigations into those outbreaks were also
never made public.
The CPSO inspected the four clinics in question but never made the outbreaks public.
Torstar News Service
Source: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4898098-health-minister-orders-data-on-clinics-made-public/
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