Defend Public Healthcare

Infection Control Today reports that a new research study (by  Cokes, et al.)  has flagged the importance of surface cleaning in hospital kitchens.     "Because patient groups at high risk for severe outcomes of L. monocytogenes infection comprise a high proportion of hospital patient populations, the absence of guidelines in hospital food service practice is concerning.   We recommend that hospitals implement policies to avoid serving certain foods to patients at risk for listeriosis. ....  In addition, routine and thorough cleaning of food contact surfaces in hospital kitchens is an essential practice to reduce opportunities for cross-contamination of foods with L. monocytogenes, an environmentally persistent pathogen." The study of New York City hospitals was conducted after a listeriosis outbreak occurred in a NYC hospital.  PubMed Health reports that Listeriosis is a dangerous infection caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called  Listeria monocyto

The Ontario government is considering a ranking system that would award Ontario hospitals stars for good performance, while identifying poor performers, the  Ottawa   Citizen   claims . The “name-and-shame” scheme would be modeled after a short-lived British experiment.  'Under the proposed system, hospitals would be given a rating of as many as three stars for their performance in areas such as treating patients safely and effectively, reducing surgical and emergency-room waits and improving cleanliness. Another system under consideration would simply rate hospitals “excellent,” “good,” “fair” or “weak,” according to documents released to the  Citizen  under provincial freedom-of-information laws. 'The merits and pitfalls of a star-rating system were discussed in 2009 by a panel of 13 experts advising Health Minister Deb Matthews on the future financing and accountability of hospitals. However, it’s not clear if the government has adopted the idea.' The Citizen adds

Here's a modest victory for supporters of public health care.  The Ministry of Health and LTC announced that London Health Sciences Centre will operate 21 new short-stay beds.  Another 23 hospital will also get such beds.    The short-stay beds will be located in hospital in-patient wards and only patients admitted through the ER will have access to these beds – where they may stay up to 72 hours before being discharged or transferred to another unit in the hospital. The beds are designed to help improve the flow in ERs. The Ministry adds the following: Short-stay beds have been introduced in response to the work of Dr. David Walker, Provincial Lead, Alternate Level of Care (ALC), who is helping to ensure that ALC patients receive care in the right setting. Across the province, 221 beds in 24 hospitals will be funded as part of the short-stay program. This sounds like a positive first step to address dangerously high hospital bed occupancy and the back-ups in the ERs.  For the Lo

Ontario Progressive Conservative MPPs attacked a deal that will see provincial public servants get an extra 1% wage increase in 2012.   ``Wouldn't it have been cheaper, acting premier, and more subtle just to stand outside polling stations and hand out cash?'' Progressive Conservative Peter Shurman asked Finance Minister Dwight Duncan in the legislature. But Sherman adopted a different approach when it came to the proposed City of Toronto deal with its police officers -- a deal that would see a 11.5% wage increase over 4 years. ``What I can say is that we support our police, that we believe they do a job for us, that they have a right to sit down with their employer to negotiate, which apparently they have done.  That's not controlled by the provincial purse.' Police officers, like hospital workers, are also required to settle contract dispute through interest arbitration.   As reported earlier , the Tories are looking at changing the arbitration process to fav

The Ontario Hospital Association is crowing, calling it "a  great day for everybody who supports better patient care ."   They, along with the insurance industry, have won the day, securing on Thursday an amendment to the Budget Bill that will allow hospital CEOs to deny requests from the general public for access to an array of information regarding quality of healthcare in hospitals.   Following contracting out scandals at hospitals, e-Health, and elsewhere, the Ontario Liberal government moved  in the fall to make hospitals subject  as of January 2012  to freedom of information requests under the  Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act .   (And, oy vey, the government really made a big deal about this ...) However, as Ontario Health Coalition Director Natalie Mehra observed on this new development.  “Today, (the government) undid a substantial portion of its own legislation passed last fall to expand hospital accountability in the wake of the e-Heal

A short video news clip on the purchase of  the Marquise Group by the transnational corporation Compass. An earlier news story noted   t he "Vancouver Island Health Authority tried to dump its housekeeping contractor last month, but Compass Group Canada hung on to its $50-million, five-year deal with the health authority after buying Marquise Group, the company chosen to take over cleaning at several Island facilities.  VIHA turfed its agreement with Compass because of the company's poor service. Under its watch, hospitals had regular infection outbreaks, failed housekeeping audits and damaging WorkSafe B.C. Inspections.  " Or click  this link , tweeted earlier by our friends at the BC Hospital Employees Union (HEU).

Mop and Pail columnist Adam Radwanski makes the following claims about public sector interest arbitrators in today's paper: "The opposition is publicly calling them out. The Ontario government is grumbling about them behind closed doors. Both hold them responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in wage costs that could put the squeeze on public services, as the province struggles to climb out of deficit.... "The situation appears to be coming to a head, with growing rumblings that the party holding power after October’s election will seek to overhaul the arbitration process. But how exactly the Liberals or Conservatives would achieve that is unclear. "The Tories seem to be a little further along in their thinking; a party official said they’re developing a 'mechanism' that would involve new legislation. But it has to be a little daunting that former premier Mike Harris - who had a stronger stomach for confrontation than today’s leaders - went do