Patient Safety and Infection Control

At St. Joseph’s, ensuring patients receive exceptional and safe care is at the core of our mission to maintain and improve the health of all who come to us for care. In our work as health care providers we continuously strive to minimize the effects of injury, disease and disability for all those who come to us for care.  

St. Joseph’s patient safety and infection prevention and control initiatives are regularly reviewed and fine-tuned to ensure the safety and well-being of our patients, residents, visitors staff and physicians. This is achieved through ongoing monitoring, education, collaboration and feedback to ensure we provide the best quality health care to our patients.

Patient Safety Indicators

St. Joseph's top priority is the safety of our patients. 
Health care-associated infections are a serious concern in hospitals worldwide, and we work hard to prevent and control these infections at our facilities. 

Patient Safety Indicators and Infection Rates 
St. Joseph's publicly reports on the following patient safety indicators and infection rates:

Note: Rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia and central line infections are not reported because they apply to critical care units, which St. Joseph's does not have.

St. Joseph's is not included in the annual Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) because it has fewer than 2,500 cases in each of the four years reported, making results less stable and reliable.

Our infection prevention and control practices, including environmental cleaning, follow best practices from the Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's "Just Clean Your Hands" program. Additionally, in partnership with London Health Sciences Centre, we have created a Hand Hygiene Improvement Project Steering Committee to guide the development and evaluation of a sustainable hand hygiene program, further enhancing the care we provide. 

Infection Prevention and Control Audits

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, patient safety is our top priority. To uphold the highest standards of infection prevention and control, the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) team conducts comprehensive annual audits of all departments, clinics and laboratories across our sites, with follow-up where needed. These audits ensure a safe environment for patients, staff, and visitors by thoroughly evaluating the following:

  • Staff practices: This includes hand hygiene, proper use of personal protective equipment and adherence to infection control protocols.
  • Cleaning and disinfection processes: This involves assessing the effectiveness and consistency of cleaning practices.
  • Unit layouts: Verifying that furnishings, surface finishes and overall unit design support infection prevention.

The audits apply a critical infection control lens to ensure compliance with best practices. When areas for improvement are identified, the IPAC team provides clear recommendations and corrective actions to address non-compliance and enhance safety. These efforts reflect St. Joseph’s commitment to excellence in patient safety and infection control, ensuring a safe and healing environment for everyone in our care.

Falls Prevention

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, your safety is important to us. We want you to have a safe visit.

You will see our Fall Prevention poster in outpatient and clinical areas across our organization.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. As patients, caregivers and visitors to St. Joseph’s, you can help us prevent falls. 

We want you to have a safe visit. Let our staff know if you:

  • Have recently experienced a fall
  • Have difficulty with balance and walking
  • Are worried you might fall during your visit

If you are worried about a potential fall, St. Joseph’s has wheelchairs available for use during your visit. 

How can you help prevent falls at St. Joseph’s? 
St. Joseph’s need your help to identifying potential slips, trips or fall hazards to reduce and prevent possible injuries to our residents, patients, staff, volunteers and visitors. 

Here’s how you can help:  

  • If you see trip or slip hazards, please notify a St. Joseph’s staff member so we can ensure everyone’s safety.
  • Review the Falls Prevention Brochure for Patients and Families for strategies to support falls prevention at home or when coming into hospital.

Have you heard about ConnectCare?

Since 1987, ConnectCare has provided peace of mind for thousands of subscribers across Southwestern Ontario.

ConnectCare offers state-of-the-art technology allowing individuals to remain living safely and independently at home for as long as possible. With a simply press of a button, the ConnectCare medical alert system summons help when it´s needed most.

Connect Care is owned and operated by St. Joseph’s and based at Parkwood Institute, learn more.

Hand Hygiene

Reducing infection is everyone’s responsibility. We encourage all those who come to us for care to do their part in infection prevention and to feel comfortable reminding any care provider to wash their hands. This is an important step in being a partner in your own care. It’s ok to remind us!

As part of our commitment to uncompromising quality and safety, we are asking patients and residents to ask us to clean our hands and do their part in cleaning their own.

Thank you for your support in continuing to promote and improve hand hygiene compliance, ensuring a safe environment for all, and earning the complete confidence of those we serve. 

Please review the following documents and for more information visit Hygiene and Infection Prevention