In 2005 Toronto East General Hospital experienced a steady increase in the number of C. difficile cases diagnosed within the hospital. This was identified as a patient safety issue, and several areas of the hospital came together to address the problem. Pharmacy immediately started a medication review of past cases. Environmental services took the lead on the environmental cleaning, and a process was put into place with Infection Control so that housekeeping knew of every room that contained a patient with C. difficile and enhanced cleaning could be practised. Staff, including nursing, housekeeping and porters, were educated on C. difficile and the methods of transmission. A business case was developed for a disposable bedpan system, and this was approved by the senior team. A new washable product was tried out with success for the overhead patient light pulls and bathroom call bell systems. Infection rates were shared with staff through a variety of venues. As a result of the initiatives, the hospital has seen a decrease of 50% in the rates of C. difficile. A bonus was that our MRSA rates dropped as well.
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