Facility Housekeeping Report Cards Issued

Sunday, August 03, 2008 03:40 AM

Prince George, B.C. – The Northern Health Authority has released the results of the Independent Unannounced Housekeeping Audit of B.C.’s Health Care Facilities.

The unannounced visits are based on 19 inspection elements that have different weight depending on risk assessment such as hand contact points that risk spreading infection such as toilets and beds.

All facilities must meet the best practice benchmark of 85%.

"It is important to recognize that if an individual facility scores below 85 per cent, it does not mean it is unsafe," said Dean
Waisman of Westech. "It does mean there is room to improve, and gives facilities an idea of where improvements need to be made."

All facilities that scored below the benchmark level were subsequently re-audited by Westech, and all showed significant
improvements, with most reaching the benchmark level.

The tables below outlines two results as 11 facilities under the Northern Health umbrella fell below the 85% benchmark and were required to re-audit.

City	Facility	First Audit	Re-Audit
Burns Lake	Lakes District Hospital	65.63	86.41
Chetwynd	Chetwynd General Hospital	83.1	88.83
Dawson Creek	Dawson Creek and District Hospital	84.49	92.5
Fort St John	North Peace Care Centre	84.06	92.65
Fraser Lake	Fraser Lake Diagnostic and Treatment Centre	74.67	96.89
Houston	Houston Health Centre	78.37	93.79
Pouce Coupe	Pouce Coupe Care Home	74.9	93.89
Smithers	Bulkley Valley District Hospital	84.63	93.82
Terrace	Mills Memorial Hospital	77.34	95.27
Terrace	Terraceview Lodge	79.40	94.39
Valemount	Valemount Health Centre	82.87	91.56

The audits of these facilities were done between August 2007 and March 2008 in five health authorities, as Westech moves towards a continual auditing of facilities throughout the year.

All audits are done by a third party, are independent, and are unannounced. Westech audits approximately 10 per cent of rooms in a facility, placing a higher priority on higher risk areas such as operating rooms and emergency departments. These audits are in addition to internal audits done by health authorities, based on the same provincial criteria set out by the Westech audits.

The overall rating for Northern Health facilities was 87.20, that compares to 87.32 in 2006 and 88.43 in 2005.

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