At Scarborough Health Network (SHN), quality and patient safety are at the core of everything we do. Our unwavering pursuit of excellence is our guiding light, shining brightly through voluntary evaluations like Accreditation.
Every four years, we participate in the Accreditation Qmentum Program, led by Accreditation Canada. This program is all about championing quality and safety across every aspect of our organization. Through an external, peer-review process, Accreditation Canada helps us evaluate and elevate our patient services, ensuring we meet and exceed standards of excellence. It is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our commitment to exceptional quality care and continuous improvement.
To succeed in the Accreditation process, organizations are required to excel in four key areas established by Accreditation Canada: standards, Required Organizational Practices (ROPs), priority processes, and Accreditation instruments.
SHN’s most recent Accreditation followed a two-phased approach, conducted in October 2021 and November 2022, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, SHN was awarded with Exemplary Standing, the highest designation, for going beyond the requirements of the Accreditation program. As a health network, we met 99.6 per cent of the over 2,000 criteria on which we were evaluated and all 31 ROPs. Maintaining this level of excellence has been a key focus for us as we continue to showcase our robust quality and safety culture.
Now, the countdown begins! We are getting ready for our next on-site Accreditation survey at our hospitals, set to take place from October 26 to 31, 2025.
“Our preparation is well underway, and we all play an important role in delivering safe, high-quality care every day. Accreditation is not just a milestone—it’s a meaningful opportunity to showcase our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement,” shared Glyn Boatswain, Executive Vice President, Chief Nursing and Allied Professionals Executive at SHN. “Patients and families are essential partners in this journey. By asking questions and actively engaging with their healthcare teams, they help ensure the best possible outcomes. Together, this is our time to shine!”
One of the first steps was for SHN to complete the Global Workforce survey in April, a mandatory Accreditation instrument designed to assess our safety culture and working conditions—including everyone from physicians to frontline and administrative staff to learners and volunteers. Beyond ensuring compliance, this survey helps to inform planning leading up to our on-site visit, providing us with actionable data that identifies opportunities for improvement and highlights areas where we can optimize our practices.
At the heart of our Accreditation efforts is our commitment to enhancing the patient experience. This dedication not only boosts patient satisfaction but also nurtures a stronger, more trusting relationship between patients and healthcare teams.
“Accreditation is a reflection of our collective commitment to our patients and families. It empowers us and brings us together in alignment with national standards. This not only enables us to achieve increased quality and patient safety, which leads to better clinical outcomes, but also elevates the patient experience through care that is safe, inclusive, and continuously improving,” said Dr. Martin Betts, Executive Vice President, Medical at SHN.
Accreditation is not just a survey that takes place every four years; it is an everyday commitment woven into the fabric of our organization. Building on our remarkable success from 2022, we look forward to celebrating another successful Accreditation survey!