Frequently Asked Questions

While in hospital there may be various reasons why your pills look different. The medication may be made by a different company so they look slightly different; the medication may have been substituted with another drug from the same class of medication; or your medication may have been stopped and another drug started for another reason. Do not hesitate to ask your nurse or doctor to give you the name of the medication you are receiving and the reason why.

The single most common transmission of healthcare-associated infections in a health care setting is via the hands of health care providers.

Health care providers acquire germs from contact with infected patients, or after handling contaminated material or equipment. Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers but also involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, families and visitors.

Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a key role in improving patient and health care worker safety, and in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections.
 

Hand hygiene involves everyone in the hospital, including patients. Hand cleaning is one of the best ways you and your health care team can prevent the spread of many infections. Patients and their visitors should also practice good hand hygiene before and after entering patient rooms.

More information is available at:

•  Ministry of Health and Long Term Care - Patient Safety  
• Public Health Ontario - Just Clean Your Hands campaign

KGH works hard-to create a culture of patient safety involves everyone – health care administration, health -care professionals, and, of course, patients and families. If low hand hygiene compliance rates are identified, we will review infection prevention and control practices to ensure that they align with best practices documents, as well as the Just Clean Your Hands program and introduce educational interventions and make appropriate revisions to our program.

For the purpose of public reporting, data will be reported on an annual basis. The decision was made to report annually so that hospitals were able to submit enough data and that the compliance rate was statistically valid.

Patients should know that their hospital is safe, that the care they receive is topnotch, and that every effort is made to ensure the highest quality of care possible. Public reporting of hand hygiene compliance rates is another helpful measure to ensure the care provided to Ontario patients is even safer, and continues to improve over time. 

A low reported compliance rate does not necessarily mean that health care providers are not performing hand hygiene. The audit tool measures whether health care providers are performing hand hygiene at the right times and the right way. That is why it is vital that hand hygiene compliance rates are viewed in the context of other performance indicators. That said, the analysis of these rates, over time will certainly provide helpful information that can be used to make system improvements in each hospital.

No. Patient safety is a number one priority for all Ontario hospitals. There are numerous checks and balances in place to ensure the safety of public hospitals but hospital care is complicated and depends on many factors. The public reporting of hospitals’ hand hygiene compliance rates is not intended to serve as a measure for hospitals to compare themselves against other organizations, or for the public to use as a measure of where to seek care. Rates can vary from hospital to hospital, month to month. Some hospitals will have lower observation opportunities because they do not have as much direct provider-to-patient care opportunities. Due to the types and patient populations (i.e. mental health) of these hospitals, their rates may seem lower. Like other indicators, it is important to look at hand hygiene compliance rates in a broader context. The rates must be examined in order to get a sense of how hospitals are performing – where they excel and where improvements could be made. It is important to look at all of these indicators in combination.

Health care providers performing hand hygiene is a practice that continues to improve as we learn more about hand hygiene best practices. Both hospitals and the health care system have invested considerable resources to improve hand hygiene in hospitals.

The Public Health Ontario provincial hand hygiene campaign, Just Clean Your Hands, was designed to help hospitals and individuals overcome barriers to proper hand hygiene and improve compliance with hand hygiene best practices. The program recognizes that health care providers are busy and require immediate access to hand hygiene products at the right time in the patient care process.

At KGH, for example, where sinks used to be located inconveniently throughout hospitals, there is now fast and easy access to more than 2,200 alcohol-based hand rubs outside all inpatient rooms and adjacent to patients’ bedsides. There are also more freestanding hand cleaning stations located at all main entrances. In addition, ongoing education sessions are held to ensure health care providers know when and where to clean their hands to ensure patient safety.

Direct observation of hand hygiene practice is done by trained observers using the provincial audit tool. The observer conducts observations openly, recording what they see, with the identity of the health care provider is kept confidential.

The single most common transmission of healthcare-associated infections in a health care setting is via the hands of health care providers.

Health care providers acquire germs from contact with infected patients, or after handling contaminated material or equipment. Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers but also involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, families and visitors.

Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a key role in improving patient and health care worker safety, and in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections.

Hand hygiene is the removal of visible soil and removal or killing of microorganisms from the hands. This can be accomplished using soap and water for visibly soiled hands or an alcohol-based hand rub.

The single most common transmission of healthcare-associated infections in a health care setting is via the hands of health care providers.

Health care providers acquire germs from contact with infected patients, or after handling contaminated material or equipment. Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers but also involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, families and visitors.

Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a key role in improving patient and health care worker safety, and in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections.
 

The single most common transmission of healthcare-associated infections in a health care setting is via the hands of health care providers.

Health care providers acquire germs from contact with infected patients, or after handling contaminated material or equipment. Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers but also involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, families and visitors.

Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a key role in improving patient and health care worker safety, and in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections.
 

The area of the scanner that creates the images is located in the centre of the magnet and is called the isocentre. Therefore, in order to scan your head most of your upper body will be in the scanner. The same is true when imaging the spine and upper extremities.

No. The HSMR results should not be used as a guide of choosing where to seek care. A higher than average HSMR result does not necessarily mean that a hospital is “unsafe” – nor does a lower than average HSMR mean a hospital is “safe.” Patients should know that KGH is safe and that the care they receive is top-notch. Every effort – on behalf of everyone serving patients in a hospital – is made to ensure patients receive the highest-quality care possible. Hospital care is complicated and depends on many factors, not all of which are reflected or accounted for by HSMR. That is why many indicators must be examined in order to get a sense of how hospitals are performing – where they excel and where improvements could be made. It is important to look at all of these indicators in combination. To judge performance on only one indicator would be misleading.

The HSMR is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool that allows for comparison of an acute care hospital’s mortality rate with the overall mortality rate among peer hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to assess and analyze in hospital mortality rates and to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety. Ontario hospitals are beginning to use the HSMR for internal benchmarking purposes: to show hospitals how their HSMR has changed, where they have made progress and where they can continue to improve.

Morbidity and mortality patterns are changing. Hospitals, like ours, have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce mortality and improve patient care. As a result, HSMR results across the country have been progressively improving. So, this year, CIHI updated the methodology used to calculate HSMR results. For example, Quebec is now included, more diagnoses are added and a new approach to logistic regression modeling is used.

The rate reported by CIHI for KGH has included patients whose secondary diagnosis included palliative care. These are patients whose hospitalization was for the purpose of palliative care for the majority of their hospital stay. Because palliative care was not the primary diagnosis, CIHI has included these patients in their calculation for KGH’s HSMR. At KGH, palliative patients accounted for 64 per cent of deaths last year. Without these palliative care deaths, the HSMR would be lower. 

The Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool used by all acute care hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety.

The HSMR is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool that allows for comparison of an acute care hospital’s mortality rate with the overall mortality rate among peer hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to assess and analyze in hospital mortality rates and to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety. Ontario hospitals are beginning to use the HSMR for internal benchmarking purposes: to show hospitals how their HSMR has changed, where they have made progress and where they can continue to improve.

 

The HSMR is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool that allows for comparison of an acute care hospital’s mortality rate with the overall mortality rate among peer hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to assess and analyze in hospital mortality rates and to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety. Ontario hospitals are beginning to use the HSMR for internal benchmarking purposes: to show hospitals how their HSMR has changed, where they have made progress and where they can continue to improve.

 

The HSMR is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool that allows for comparison of an acute care hospital’s mortality rate with the overall mortality rate among peer hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to assess and analyze in hospital mortality rates and to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety. Ontario hospitals are beginning to use the HSMR for internal benchmarking purposes: to show hospitals how their HSMR has changed, where they have made progress and where they can continue to improve.

 

No. The HSMR results should not be used as a guide of choosing where to seek care. A higher than average HSMR result does not necessarily mean that a hospital is “unsafe” – nor does a lower than average HSMR mean a hospital is “safe.” Patients should know that KGH is safe and that the care they receive is top-notch. Every effort – on behalf of everyone serving patients in a hospital – is made to ensure patients receive the highest-quality care possible. Hospital care is complicated and depends on many factors, not all of which are reflected or accounted for by HSMR. That is why many indicators must be examined in order to get a sense of how hospitals are performing – where they excel and where improvements could be made. It is important to look at all of these indicators in combination. To judge performance on only one indicator would be misleading.

The HSMR is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool that allows for comparison of an acute care hospital’s mortality rate with the overall mortality rate among peer hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to assess and analyze in hospital mortality rates and to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety. Ontario hospitals are beginning to use the HSMR for internal benchmarking purposes: to show hospitals how their HSMR has changed, where they have made progress and where they can continue to improve.

Morbidity and mortality patterns are changing. Hospitals, like ours, have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce mortality and improve patient care. As a result, HSMR results across the country have been progressively improving. So, this year, CIHI updated the methodology used to calculate HSMR results. For example, Quebec is now included, more diagnoses are added and a new approach to logistic regression modeling is used.

The rate reported by CIHI for KGH has included patients whose secondary diagnosis included palliative care. These are patients whose hospitalization was for the purpose of palliative care for the majority of their hospital stay. Because palliative care was not the primary diagnosis, CIHI has included these patients in their calculation for KGH’s HSMR. At KGH, palliative patients accounted for 64 per cent of deaths last year. Without these palliative care deaths, the HSMR would be lower. 

The Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) is an overall quality indicator and measurement tool used by all acute care hospitals and regions in Canada. HSMR has been used by many hospitals in several countries to help improve quality of care and enhance patient safety.

Morbidity and mortality patterns are changing. Hospitals, like ours, have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce mortality and improve patient care. As a result, HSMR results across the country have been progressively improving. So, this year, CIHI updated the methodology used to calculate HSMR results. For example, Quebec is now included, more diagnoses are added and a new approach to logistic regression modeling is used.

Morbidity and mortality patterns are changing. Hospitals, like ours, have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce mortality and improve patient care. As a result, HSMR results across the country have been progressively improving. So, this year, CIHI updated the methodology used to calculate HSMR results. For example, Quebec is now included, more diagnoses are added and a new approach to logistic regression modeling is used.

Morbidity and mortality patterns are changing. Hospitals, like ours, have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce mortality and improve patient care. As a result, HSMR results across the country have been progressively improving. So, this year, CIHI updated the methodology used to calculate HSMR results. For example, Quebec is now included, more diagnoses are added and a new approach to logistic regression modeling is used.

Oui. L’inscription au Programme de santé mentale pour adultes (volets « non urgent » et « urgent ») se fait par demande de consultation seulement.

Dans le cas du volet « non urgent », il faut obtenir une demande de consultation d’un médecin de famille, d’une infirmière praticienne ou d’un infirmier praticien. Si vous n’avez pas de médecin de famille, nous acceptons les demandes de consultation des cliniques sans rendez-vous.

Pour ce qui est du volet « urgent », nous n’acceptons que les demandes de consultation internes du Service des urgences de l’Hôpital général de Kingston, du Centre de soins d’urgence de l’Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, du Programme de santé mentale et de traitement des dépendances pour patients hospitalisés ainsi que de l’équipe de consultation-liaison en psychiatrie.

Une fois la demande de consultation pour services d’intervention non urgents reçue, le professionnel ou la professionnelle qui a rédigé la demande recevra une communication soit pour l’informer que la demande a été acceptée et lui indiquer le temps d’attente actuel, soit pour lui recommander d’autres services qui pourraient mieux répondre à vos besoins.

Si nous acceptons la demande, nous ajouterons votre nom à une liste d’attente afin qu’une infirmière ou un infirmier responsable de l’accueil vous appelle. L’attente peut durer jusqu’à un an, selon le volume de demandes. Au moment de l’appel d’accueil, on vous donnera un rendez-vous ou on ajoutera votre nom à une autre une liste d’attente pour vous offrir le prochain rendez-vous libre.

Une fois la demande de consultation pour services d’intervention urgents reçue, une infirmière ou un infirmier responsable de l’accueil communiquera avec vous. Nous tâchons de communiquer avec les patients adressés par le Service des urgences ou l’Unité de santé mentale pour patients hospitalisés dans un délai de 72 heures. Toutefois, le délai pourrait être plus long selon l’heure et la journée de la réception de la demande et s’il nous faut obtenir d’autres renseignements.

Au moment de l’appel du service d’accueil, soit on vous donnera un rendez-vous, soit on ajoutera votre nom à une liste d’attente pour vous offrir le prochain rendez-vous libre, soit on vous indiquera que votre cas fera l’objet de discussions interdisciplinaires et qu’on vous informera du résultat.

Plusieurs scénarios peuvent se produire selon votre demande de consultation et les renseignements recueillis au moment de l’appel du service d’accueil.

• On pourrait vous donner un rendez-vous en psychiatrie.
• On pourrait ajouter votre nom à une liste d’attente pour un rendez-vous prochainement.
• On pourrait vous inscrire à des séances de psychothérapie de groupe.
• On pourrait vous recommander des services qui répondraient mieux à vos besoins.
• On pourrait refuser votre demande si vous recevez déjà des services adéquats.

Le Programme de santé mentale pour adultes n’offre pas les services suivants :

• Rendez-vous de suivi concernant une invalidité dans le cadre de l’assurance-emploi
• Services en lien avec le Régime de pensions du Canada
• Services en lien avec la Commission de la sécurité professionnelle et de l’assurance contre les accidents du travail
• Services à l’appui des exigences du Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées
• Examens médicaux indépendants aux fins d’évaluations pour un tribunal ou les services de bien-être de l’enfance
• Évaluations médico-légales ou de la capacité

Le volet « non urgent » ne prévoit pas de services de counseling, de services d’intervention en cas de crise ou de rendez-vous d’urgence.

La durée du traitement varie d’un patient à l’autre et peut aller d’une seule consultation à une période de suivi à court terme. Le programme n’assure pas de suivi pendant une longue période, faute de capacité. On s’attend à ce que le patient soit repris en charge par un fournisseur de soins primaires.

Le volet « urgent » consiste en un service d’intervention de courte durée axé sur la stabilisation à la suite d’une crise de santé mentale aiguë. On aide surtout les gens à acquérir une capacité d’adaptation de base avant d’avoir accès à d’autres services qui peuvent assurer des soins prolongés.

Le programme dessert la région de Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox et Addington. Si vous habitez à l’extérieur de cette région et que vous voulez savoir quel organisme de santé mentale dessert votre région, communiquez avec notre coordonnatrice de l’évaluation clinique au 613 544-3400, poste 3700, ou faites une recherche sur le site Web de ConnexOntario.

Le psychiatre rattaché au programme pourrait vous prescrire des médicaments ou recommander à votre médecin traitant de vous les prescrire. Après votre congé du programme, il incombera à votre médecin traitant de continuer à vous prescrire les médicaments. Si vous n’avez pas de médecin de famille, nous vous recommandons de faire renouveler vos ordonnances à une clinique sans rendez-vous.

Nous ne pouvons pas fixer de rendez-vous pour une évaluation psychiatrique dans le seul but de renouveler des ordonnances.

En tant que site du CSSK, et en collaboration avec l’Université Queen, le Collège St. Lawrence et d’autres établissements d’enseignement, nous accueillons beaucoup d’étudiants et d’apprenants de diverses disciplines dans nos cliniques.

• Résidents en psychiatrie (médecins autorisés qui suivent une formation en psychiatrie)
• Moniteurs (psychiatres autorisés qui suivent une formation dans un domaine de psychiatrie spécialisé)

Au sein du Programme de santé mentale pour adultes, nous comptons des médecins internationaux et canadiens qui reçoivent une formation dans des sous-spécialités.

• Externe/étudiant en médecine présent à votre évaluation : tous les soins psychiatriques sont prodigués sous la supervision du psychiatre du Programme de santé mentale pour adultes, que vous pourriez ou non voir en personne.
• Professionnels paramédicaux : bon nombre de nos professionnels paramédicaux offrent aussi des stages étudiants dans diverses disciplines, notamment les soins infirmiers, l’ergothérapie et le travail social. Par conséquent, certains apprenants pourraient participer aux services que vous recevez.

Comme nous recevons un très grand nombre de demandes et que la liste d’attente est longue, il est important que vous vous présentiez à votre rendez-vous. Si vous devez l’annuler, informez-nous-en au moins 24 heures à l’avance afin de nous permettre de céder votre place à un autre patient. Si vous annulez votre rendez-vous avec préavis, nous vous donnerons un autre rendez-vous, mais il vous faudra peut-être attendre plusieurs mois.

Si un nouveau patient ne se présente pas à son évaluation initiale, son dossier sera systématiquement fermé, et une demande de consultation sera nécessaire à sa réouverture.

La séance de groupe permet aux gens de s’entretenir avec d’autres participants qui pourraient avoir des problèmes de santé mentale semblables et d’acquérir de nouvelles habiletés. Les participants qui le veulent peuvent faire part de leurs réflexions et parler de leurs sentiments.

Votre rendez-vous pourrait se tenir en personne ou virtuellement. On en discutera avec vous durant l’appel du service d’accueil, lorsqu’on vous demandera votre adresse courriel. Vous recevrez un avis de rendez-vous qui renfermera les renseignements nécessaires à ce sujet.

Si votre rendez-vous a lieu virtuellement, la secrétaire vous enverra le lien nécessaire par courriel. Ce lien pourrait ne vous être envoyé que le jour précédant votre rendez-vous et vous donnera accès à des instructions détaillées.

Vous trouverez d’autres ressources sur la page de Ressources communautaires.

No. Although there may be noise emitted from the MRI scanner during your test, there is no pain involved during the procedure.

We remain committed to honouring the unique missions and cultures of both sites as we move forward. The Hotel Dieu site will retain its Catholic identity and mission, and KGH will remain a secular site.

We remain committed to honouring the unique missions and cultures of both sites as we move forward. The Hotel Dieu site will retain its Catholic identity and mission, and KGH will remain a secular site.

We remain committed to honouring the unique missions and cultures of both sites as we move forward. The Hotel Dieu site will retain its Catholic identity and mission, and KGH will remain a secular site.

If you undergo a surgery at Kingston General Hospital, you can expect that the surgical safety checklist will be used as part of the procedure. As a patient, you will be asked questions by a surgical team member so that they can complete a portion of the checklist with you.  It will then be used by your surgical team members before, during and after your surgery to help the surgical team members familiarize themselves with your medical history and any special requirements that may be needed for your individual case.