Quality Care

Read our assessment reports from Accreditation Canada: 

• Assessment Report 2023
• Assessment Report 2019 
• Assessment Report 2015
   

Westech Systems FM Inc., an independent third-party auditor, conducts province-wide audits of housekeeping in B.C. hospitals and long-term care facilities. View the final audit reports for IH:

• April 2016 to March 2017
• April 2015 to March 2016
• April 2014 to March 2015
• April 2013 to March 2014
   

• Educating all staff in the best practices for preventing/controlling infections
• Observing practice and mentoring staff through just-in-time teaching by clinical rounding
• Conducting practice and environmental audits to identify improvements in preventing infections
• Monitoring infections through surveillance to guide practice improvements
• Participating in BCCDC’s Community Antimicrobial Stewardship, which oversees best practices for medication use, reducing the risk of more organisms developing resistance to antibiotics
• Preventing and/or supporting staff and leadership during outbreaks
• Providing consultation related to infection prevention and control practices, and the development of new programs to help reduce the infections in the health care setting. For example, the Champion program in long-term care that educates and develops partnerships with point-of-care staff to encourage the basics of infection prevention and control with their care area

General

• Cross Reference (June 2016)
• Contact Plus Precautions Sign (June 2016)
• Droplet Precautions Sign (June 2016)
• Airborne and Contact Precautions Sign (June 2016)
• Droplet and Contact Precautions Sign (September 2016)
• Droplet and Contact with Enhanced Precautions Sign (March 2021)
• Contact Precautions Sign (June 2016)
• Airborne Precautions Sign (June 2016)
• Table of Contents (January 2020)

Introduction

• Manual Introduction (February 2015)

Section 03F - Routine Practices

• IF0100 - Routine Practices for All Care Areas (October 2019)
• IF0200 - Hand Hygiene Guidelines (November 2016)
• IF0300 - Waste Management (October 2019)

Section 04H - Additional Precautions

• IH0100 - All Care Areas - Transmission Tables (October 2019)
• IH0200 - Airborne Precautions (February 2020)
• IH0300 - Droplet Precautions (October 2019)
• IH0400 -Contact Precautions (March 2020)

Section 08S - Specific Diseases

• IS0100 - Reportable Communicable Diseases (October 2019)
• IS0200 - Clostridium difficile (October 2019)
• IS0300 - Antibiotic Resistant Organisms (June 2016)
• IS0300A - Carbapenemase Producing Organisms (July 2015)
• IS0400 - Scabies and Lice (November 2016)
• IS0500A - Tuberculosis (October 2019)
• IS0500B - Tuberculosis Risk Screening - Residential Facilities (October 2019)
• IS0600 - Chickenpox (Varicella-Zoster) and Shingles (Herpes Zoster) (October 2021)
• IS0700 - Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections (IGAS) (September 2014)
• IS0800 - Meningococcal Infection (November 2010)
• IS0900 - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (May 2019)
• IS1000 - Respiratory Viruses (October 2019)
• IS1100 - Rabies (November 2010)
• IS1200 - Measles (October 2019)
• IS1300 - Mumps (October 2019)
• IS1400 - Bedbugs (October 2019)
• IS1500 - Pertussis (October 2019)

Section 09V - Surveillance & Outbreak

• IV0100 - Surveillance for Healthcare Associated Infections (October 2019)
• IV0300 - Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) (October 2019)
• IV0600 - Communicable Diseases in Employees (December 2012)

Section 10X - Best Practices

• IX0200 - Prevention and Control of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI) (June 2016)
• IX0300 - Pneumococcal Vaccine for Residential Care (October 2019)
• IX0400 - Pet Therapy and Visitation (October 2019)
• IX0500 - Soiled Utility Rooms (October 2019)
• IX0600 - Equipment Cleaning (October 2019) 
• IX0700 - Toy Management (October 2019) 
• IX0800 - Personal Care Supplies (October 2019) 
• IX0900 - Construction Projects (May 2019)

Have a look at how we’re doing: 

• Cariboo Memorial Hospital
• East Kootenay Regional Hospital
• Kelowna General Hospital
• Kootenay Boundary Hospital
• Kootenay Lake Hospital
• Penticton Regional Hospital
• Royal Inland Hospital
• Shuswap Lake Hospital
• Vernon Jubilee Hospital
• Interior Health Overall (Acute)
• Interior Health Overall (Long-term Care)
• Interior Health Overall by Health-Care Worker
• IH Hospitals with 11-25 Beds

View a provincial picture of hand hygiene compliance that includes hand hygiene audit results from all provincial health authorities in an annual report format.
 

Find out more about patient safety and quality initiatives, new research and guidelines by accessing the following resources:  

• BC Patient Safety & Quality Council
• BC Centre for Disease Control
• Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) - Patient Experience
• B.C. Ministry of Health Patient Experience Survey Results 
• Canadian Patient Safety Institute
• Canadian Patient Safety Institute - Canadian Disclosure Guidelines
• Infection Prevention and Control Canada (IPAC)
• National Electronic Library of Infection (UK)
• Provincial Infection Control Network of British Columbia
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
• Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group
• Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

About B.C. patient surveys

The B.C. Office of Patient-Centred Measurement and the B.C. Patient-Centred Measurement Steering Committee, which are supported by the B.C. Ministry of Health and all the health authorities across B.C., have been implementing province-wide surveys for over a decade to hear the collective voices of people who access B.C. health-care services. We believe it’s important to understand our patients and their families’ perspectives to help shape the way that care is delivered. All surveys are voluntary and a strict process is followed to care for your confidential information. 

Patients are invited to complete a survey by phone or online with the help of our surveying partners: R.A. Malatest & Associates. Randomly selected patients receive a letter in the mail explaining the process for participating or requesting removal from the survey.
If you have questions or concerns about one of the provincial surveys: 

• Find more information on the B.C. survey process.
• Contact the Interior Health Patient Care Quality Office by phone at 1-877-442-2001 or by email.

Current and upcoming surveys

• B.C.’s Mental Health and Substance Use Survey(s) (2-year baseline and comparison surveys, beginning April 2025)
  • The Mental Health and Substance Use survey aims to measure the experience and outcomes of patients accessing British Columbia’s (BC) health care system – with a specific focus on mental health and substance use services. This survey will be split into 3 ‘Bundles’, each focusing on different services, and running as baseline then comparison surveys two years later. Bundle 1, beginning its baseline survey in 2025, focuses on Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI), Adult Counselling and Treatment, and Community Eating Disorders programs. Bundle 2 will follow with its baseline survey and focus on Inpatient Mental Health treatment beds and Supportive Recovery facilities for adults and youth. Bundle 3 will focus on Rapid Opioid Agonist Treatment Access Clinics for both adults and youth and Community Substance Use Outreach Services for youth.
  • For more information about the MHSU Bundle 1 survey, please review the FAQs.

• B.C.’s Total Hip and Knee Replacement (June 2022 – Ongoing)
  • The pilot of the Elective Total Hip and Knee Replacement sector survey is a province-wide patient experience survey to measure patient experience and outcomes within the British Columbia’s health-care system. 
  • The purpose of the survey is to understand the outcomes and experiences of joint replacement patients prior to surgery and one year after their surgery is completed. The goal is to learn the impact of joint replacement surgery on patients’ daily lives and to understand their experiences at our surgical facilities. The results of the survey will help to identify areas for improvement, as well as areas where we are doing well.
  • For more information about the Total Hip and Knee Replacement survey, please review the FAQs.
     
• B.C.’s Emergency Care Sector Survey (continuous)
  • The Emergency Department (ED) sector survey, like other provincial surveys, aims to measure the experience and outcomes of patients accessing British Columbia’s (BC) health care system – with a specific focus on care in emergency departments. The ED survey ran annually from January 1, until March 31 each year from 2018 until 2024. As of April 1, 2025, it started to run continuously, through all months of the year.
  • Participation in the survey is voluntary. A random sample of Patients who received ED services in Interior Health are invited to participate in the survey. In BC, this includes full service EDs, urgent care centres, diagnostic and treatment centres, and outpost hospitals. 
  • For more information about the ED sector survey, please review the FAQs.
     
• B.C.’s Acute Inpatient Sector Survey (annually October-March)
  • The Acute Inpatient sector survey focuses on the experiences and outcomes of care for patients who have been admitted, then discharged, from hospitals across BC.  
  • It will help us to understand the patient perspective on the spectrum of care provided. The overall objective is to improve patient satisfaction, experience, and outcomes in quality improvement initiatives, to understand the impact of system changes on patients, and to improve public confidence in the health system over time.
  • or more information about the survey, please review the FAQs.

Patient Experience Survey Results