Context for Toronto Public Health outbreak reports
On February 13, 2014, Toronto Public Health (TPH) will begin posting information online regarding respiratory and gastrointestinal outbreaks for all health care institutions in Toronto.
Sunnybrook has a rigorous approach to infection prevention and control, with constant monitoring and feedback, and we support the efforts of TPH to provide greater transparency and information to the public. It is important however, to provide the full context and a basic understanding of how and why this data is collected.
Each and every day, the hospital performs active surveillance on all of its patient and resident care areas to identify any potential issues that may lead to the spread of infectious diseases. At Sunnybrook, we follow the Ontario Ministry of Health's definition of an ‘outbreak', which is defined as two (2) patients on the same unit identified as having an infection with the same organism within 48 hours.
The term ‘outbreak' should not be misinterpreted or cause alarm or give the impression of a serious issue or even that an entire facility is affected, when in fact this may not be the case. Patients should continue to feel confident in accessing Sunnybrook for care; residents in the Veterans Centre and their families should also be confident in their care.
When an outbreak is declared, affected patients and care areas are isolated immediately, signage is posted, patients/residents and residents' families are notified and staff members observe strict precautions to avoid any further spread of the illness.
Given the strict surveillance program at Sunnybrook, the hospital will likely appear on the site as having multiple or frequent outbreaks but this is mainly due to sensitivity of the identification and infection management program in place.
It is our hope, that the public will make informed choices about accessing care within Toronto hospitals and not rely solely on perceptions or the TPH data collected regarding outbreaks within a particular institution.
