Holland Bloorview has officially earned all five badges in the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) Network Virtual Learning Series Badge Challenge. This annual learning series aims at driving a culture of safety and improvement across a network of more than 150 children’s hospitals.

The challenge is meant to recognize hospitals that demonstrate progress toward the network’s shared goal: eliminating serious harm for all patients. This year, 53 hospitals within the network earned a total of 202 badges. We were one of only 26 hospitals to earn all five badges, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to safety and continuous improvement.

"This achievement reflects our team’s dedication to patient safety, continuous improvement and collaboration,” says Melody Hicks, project manager, quality, safety and performance. “By completing the challenge, we have strengthened our commitment to best practices and demonstrated leadership in creating a safer health-care environment.” 

How does it work?

The challenge follows an “all teach, all learn” model, where hospitals collaborate by sharing successes and lessons learned. Progress is measured through key metrics, such as reducing hospital-acquired conditions such as Central Line-associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI). Hospitals that meet or exceed these goals earn badges as a symbol of their commitment to safety.

Here’s how we earned all five badges: 

1. Safety Clutter Badge 
   We identified and reduced safety clutter by:

• Management Review: Streamlined meetings by assessing purpose, reducing duplication and combining sessions for collective learning.
• Executive Leadership Rounding (ELR): Simplified steps in the ELR Standard Work to make the process more efficient and flexible.
• Proactive Safety Huddles: Introduced weekly 30-minute huddles between safety and occupational safety teams to proactively identify Patient Behavioural Events (PBEs) and reduce risks.

2. SPS Safety Performance Plan Badge 
   Addressed overexertion risks for staff by introducing the WT3 (Walk Through–Talk Through) tool to learn from real work scenarios. This led to new ergonomic strategies and equipment to reduce injuries during client care. 
3. Learning Team Badge 
   Formed a multidisciplinary learning team to address incomplete home IV referrals during weekend passes. Key outcome: transitioned from a manual fax-based system to an electronic referral process, improving accuracy, visibility and efficiency.
4. Virtual Poster Badge 
   Three team members engaged in the SPS Virtual Poster Hall by reviewing and commenting on multiple posters, contributing to shared learning across hospitals.
5. Connect with Others Badge 
   Our director for quality safety and performance, Renee Blomme, actively engaged on social media by commenting on an SPS keynote presentation about modern safety culture.

Why does this matter?

Since 2012, the SPS Network’s collaborative efforts have prevented 32,000 children from experiencing serious harm, saving an estimated $752 million in health-care costs. This challenge not only drives innovation but also fosters a strong culture of safety, ensuring that every child receives care in the safest possible environment.

“This challenge brought together multidisciplinary perspectives to review workflows, uncover process gaps and identify meaningful opportunities for improvement. By creating a shared understanding of challenges and risks, we are able to shift the focus from individual error to collaborative problem-solving. This leads to more effective system level practices,” shares Laura Nicholson, manager, risk and safety.

Echoing these sentiments, Harshi Dama, safety specialist, adds “Achieving the SPS Safety Performance Plan badge reflects our commitment to excellence for everyone in our care and on our team. This badge represents a proven practice that strengthens our safety culture, ensuring that when we understand work as it is truly done, we can meaningfully reduce overexertion injuries and create an environment where both client care and staff safety thrive.

A huge thank you to the teams who contributed to this success. Together, we are making a difference for our clients and families every day!

Learn more about our Caring Safely program and about the SPS network

By Terry Mutuku