Quality Care
At Niagara Health System (NHS) we believe quality health-care means doing the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right person and having the best possible outcome. There are many dimensions to quality health-care. These dimensions for quality health-care are commonly defined as care that is:
- safe (avoiding complications or injuries to patients through the care that is intended to help them);
- effective (providing health services to patients that are proven through scientific knowledge as effective);
- patient-centered (providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions;
- timely (reducing waits for both those who receive and those who give care);
- efficient (avoiding waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy);
- equitable (providing care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socio-economic status);
- worklife (supporting wellness in the work environment);
- population focus (working with community to anticipate and meet needs); and,
- continuity of service (experiencing co-ordinated and seamless services).
At NHS, we continually strive to improve the quality of care that we provide to our patients. Our ability to provide quality of care professionally, respectfully and compassionately will be core requirements in all of the proposals we put forward in our Hospital Improvement Plan submission to the LHIN.
