Our time to shine is only two weeks away: The Accreditation Canada survey visit begins September 18.

With the Accreditation Canada visit just over two weeks away, it’s time for a look at what we have learned from our preparation journey to date:

Show off what makes you proud

Accreditation Canada surveyors will be listening for a culture of client and family centred care and well as one of learning and improving.  You have much to be proud of and to share with the surveyors. During mock tracers we saw passion, resourcefulness, and plenty of great examples of partnering with our patients and families to provide responsive, culturally safe, person-centred care. We have made a tremendous impact in supporting consistent best practices every day by staying focused on Required Organizational Practices (ROP) and “thinking regionally, acting locally”. A culture of safety, teamwork and continuous learning was evident everywhere we went.

Ready to host

By now all the sites and teams hosting accreditation tracers during our site visit will have received information about the logistics of their time with the surveyors, which includes all the considerations in this Site Visit Logistics Overview. You can find a summary of the Schedule of Accreditation Canada site visits here.

If you are not sure about the arrangements for your area, you can contact your unit lead, accreditation coordinator, or accreditation@vch.ca.

Spread the word

Physicians are an integral part of the interdisciplinary teams that surveyors will want to meet. To ensure that all physicians know what to expect during the site visit, the accreditation team is holding special 20-minute info sessions specially geared to the types of questions and activities that will involve physicians. The sessions are offered 4 times a day every weekday throughout September 7-16:

• 6:00-6:20 AM
• 6:30-6:50 AM
• 6:00-6:20 PM
• 6:30-6:50 PM

All VCH physicians are welcome to attend an info session.  Just come by the Hemlock Room at VGH or call into Teleconference line: 604-681-0455 or 1-877-291-3022, Participant code: 2422475#

Knowing the timing of the accreditation visits for your team can also be helpful for patients and visitors who are going to be on the premises to feel engaged and not be taken by surprise if approached by a surveyor. Here, you can find customizable posters to display on your premises, indicating the date and time when surveyors will visit your team:

• Site visit notification poster – Powerpoint, landscape view
• Site visit notification poster – Powerpoint, portrait

Making the best first impression

While our surveyors are coming to observe the good work that we do everyday, there a number of things we can do to ensure that their first introduction to our sites makes a first impression that is consistent with the high quality of care that we provide. One of these things is ensuring that the physical environment at each of our sites is clean, tidy, and free of potential safety hazards.

Through Four Cornerstones, Releasing Time to Care and Lean initiatives, we have seen how decluttering and organizing your physical space can make a big difference in both quality of worklife and patient care.

As infection control is an underlying theme to the entire VCH site visit, the infection control mock-tracers have seen excellent examples of this, in particular around:

• Ensuring clear separation of clean/dirty (linens, equipment, storage areas, etc.), such as designated parking spots or the “green is clean” system to distinguish each.
• Using indicator data to drive improvement, such as tracking, posting and discussing as a team Care Sensitive Adverse Events, infection rates, hand hygiene audits, etc.

Read more about other Tips for Hosting on the Accreditation site on VCH Connect.

Meet our surveyors

Surveyors are health care professionals who come from all over Canada and have a variety of current leadership positions in other health care organizations. They volunteer their time with Accreditation Canada because they believe in sharing knowledge with peer organizations to help each other raise the bar on quality.

• You can find our surveyors’ profiles here.

More information

• Accreditation 2016 on VCH Connect
• Fact Sheet for Leaders: What you need to know
• Schedule of Accreditation Canada site visits