SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience.

Patients with cancer are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. As a result, routine SARS-CoV-2 testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer is recommended prior to treatment. However, there is limited evidence of its clinical usefulness. The objective of this study is to evaluate the value of routine testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer. Asymptomatic patients with cancer attending Odette Cancer Centre (Toronto, ON, Canada) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 prior to and during treatment cycles. Results were compared to positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2 locally and provincially. All 890 asymptomatic patients tested negative. Positivity rates in the province were 1.5%, in hospital were 1.0%, and among OCC's symptomatic cancer patients were 0% over the study period. Given our findings and the low SARS-CoV-2 community positivity rates, we recommend a dynamic testing model of asymptomatic patients that triggers testing during increasing community positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2.

Front-line ownership: generating a cure mindset for patient safety.

Great advances have been made in standardization and human factors engineering that have reduced variability and increased reliability in healthcare. As important as these advances are, the authors believe there is another important but largely ignored layer to the safety story in healthcare that has prevented us from progressing. In the field of infection prevention and control (IPAC), despite great attempts over several decades to improve compliance with hand hygiene, surveillance, environmental cleaning, isolation protocols and other control measures, very significant challenges remain. We believe this failure is in part due to the power gradients, often dysfunctional relationships and lack of safety mindfulness that exist in hospitals and healthcare more generally. Furthermore, safety culture requires different approaches and considerable ongoing attentiveness. If this is the case, and the authors contend in this paper that it is, then the role of the front line is much more important than many of our healthcare safety and IPAC approaches suggest.

Healthcare-associated infections: new initiatives and continuing challenges.

Healthcare-associated infections are a major cause of patient morbidity and mortality. Fortunately for patients and the healthcare system, there is increasing interest in this field and the growing realization that many of these infections are highly preventable. We explore some of the newer and more promising strategies for decreasing infections, including the use of practice bundles, behavioural change strategies, hand hygiene auditing, public reporting of infection rates and antimicrobial stewardship. We also identify several areas where improvement is needed, including empowering patients to prevent infections, building safer healthcare facilities and accepting the limitations of the evidence supporting some infection control interventions.

Healthcare culture and the challenge of preventing healthcare-associated infections.

Consider the following story: A patient in a teaching hospital is about to be examined by a resident physician. When asked by the patient to wash his hands, the resident refuses, saying he has done so recently. The staff physician then enters the room and the patient speaks of his disappointment regarding the actions of the resident. The staff physician is displeased and states that the patient should not be mistrusting his physicians. Later, when booking his follow-up appointment, the patient asks not to be seen by the resident. The staff physician overhears and, in front of other patients, angrily tells the patient not to return to his clinic because of his disruptive behaviour.

Healthcare-associated infections as patient safety indicators.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a pressing and imminent patient safety concern as they cause substantial preventable morbidity and mortality. Despite this, there is a strong tendency for healthcare administrators and providers to view them as far less of a threat to patient safety than adverse events such as medication administration errors and falls. Further, validated strategies to prevent HAIs are frequently slow to be adopted. This paper reviews two HAIs of increasing visibility and importance - namely, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile - and discusses the pivotal importance of hand hygiene and environmental cleaning in their prevention. Possible reasons why HAIs are approached differently from other patient safety issues are discussed, including the false sense of security created by the advent of antibiotics, the lack of randomized controlled trials supporting infection-control interventions and the systemic multifactorial causes of HAIs that result in a need for interventions that go far beyond traditional clinical boundaries. Suggested strategies to improve patient safety with respect to HAIs are provided, including a focus on the role of potential links to accreditation; the role of public reporting; healthcare facility design; change management strategies; visible leadership and role modelling; collaboration between facilities and with public health; reducing hospital overcrowding; and accountability and funding. Finally, the impact of the burgeoning interest of the media, the threat of legal liability and the well-being of healthcare providers are discussed.