TORONTO – Hospitals providing complex continuing care are delivering quality client-centred care according to a report released today by Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman and Ontario Hospital President and CEO Hilary Short.

Based on 2003/2004 data, Hospital Report 2005 : Complex Continuing Care states that facilities scored an overall 67 per cent approval rating in areas of keeping patients informed, educating them about their care and offering emotional support. It also showed that hospitals scored 67 per cent overall in the use of specified clinical practice guidelines and the number of clinical issues for which hospitals have guidelines in place.

Complex continuing care provides continuing, medically complex and specialized services to both young and old, sometimes over extended periods of time in Ontario hospitals. This includes support to families with palliative or respite care needs. In contrast, long-term care facilities provide care and services for people who no longer are able to live independently or who require 24-hour supervision or personal support. Long-term care is not covered in the Hospital Report series.

"This report provides valuable information on how hospitals are doing in providing complex continuing care," Smitherman said. "Progress is clearly being made in patient care and services. This helps hospitals to continue to learn how to provide better services for the benefit of patients across the province."

The report showed some specific improvements in the care of patients – including a 27 per cent reduction in the use of physical restraints between 2000/2001 and 2003/2004.

Patient satisfaction results are largely unchanged from Hospital Report 2003 : Complex Continuing Care. Patients are most satisfied with the medical care and services they receive, however, families are mainly dissatisfied with the living environment and amount of activities available for their loved ones.

Since 1998, Ontarians have had access to independently researched reports dealing with the performance of hospitals across the province. This is the second report with hospital-specific data on complex continuing care.

The report on complex continuing care looks at five areas: patient care, patient/family satisfaction, dealing with change, financial performance and condition, and women's health.

Hospitals participate voluntarily in the hospital report process with 54 out of 106 eligible organizations responding in this report, covering 85 per cent of patient days in complex continuing care.

"Complex continuing care plays an integral role in the treatment offered to patients in our province's hospitals," said Hilary Short. "As such care continues to evolve with the integration of our healthcare system, opportunities for improvement will become even more important. The results found in this Complex Continuing Care Report will go a long way toward helping hospitals share best practices and learn from the successes of their peers to enhance the care they provide to patients and their facilities. This research will also allow hospitals to continue to demonstrate accountability to Ontario's taxpayers."

Independently prepared by the Hospital Report Research Collaborative based at the University of Toronto, Ontario's Hospital Reports are considered one of the most advanced approaches to reporting on hospital performance in North America.

"The Report provides hospitals with a balanced view of their performance that is vital to quality improvement efforts", said Gary Teare, lead researcher for the Complex Continuing Care Hospital Report. "The research highlights the important progress made by hospital complex continuing care programs in reducing the use of physical restraints in day to day care without threat to patient safety."

The complex continuing care report is the last in a series of four hospital reports being released this year. The rehabilitation report was released in July, the emergency department care report as well as the acute care report were released in September.

>Hospital Report 2005 : Complex Continuing Care is available on the following websites : www.health.gov.on.ca., www.oha.com, and www.hospitalreport.ca or by calling 1-877-234-4343 or (TTY) 1-800-837-5559.

For further information :

Members of the media :

David Spencer, (416) 327-4320 Minister's Office

Dan Strasbourg, (416) 314-6197 Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Members of the general public : (416) 327-4327, or (800) 268-1154

Backgrounder Hospital Report 2005 : Complex Continuing Care 2 page | 49k | PDF format

Report Hospital Report 2005 : Complex Continuing Care

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