At Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Caring Safely is a shared commitment embedded in everything we do. As part of the hospital’s HB2030 strategic plan, Caring Safely is key organizational priority guiding how we deliver care, support teams and improve safety for clients, families and staff. 

Launched in 2020, the Caring Safely initiative was designed to strengthen safety culture across the organization and advance our commitment to delivering the safest and highest quality care possible. This initiative is grounded in a proactive approach to identifying risks, learning from incidents and continuously improving systems and behaviours that support safer care. 

Over the past five years, teams across Holland Bloorview have worked together to strengthen a culture where safety is proactive, collaborative and deeply connected to quality care. Through innovation, education, data-informed improvement and strong staff engagement, Caring Safely has evolved into a powerful driver of safer outcomes for clients, families and staff.

Today, with the launch of the Caring Safely Five-year Impact Report, we are proud to celebrate key milestones and achievements from the past five years of this journey.

Highlights:

• 90 per cent of staff trained in error prevention
• 45 per cent reduction in staff harm related to patient behavioural events
• 78.5 percent reduction in serious safety events, preventing an estimated five to six events annually
• 67.4 per cent reduction in adverse drug events, with approximately six events prevented each year

Reflections from staff:

"I have been genuinely impressed by the ways in which Caring Safely has been embraced and embedded across the entire organization and has become such an integral part of our culture. Caring Safely is more than an initiative, it is how we lead, learn and care for our clients, families and one another.” – Bruce Squires, president and CEO

“Reflecting on the first five years of our Caring Safely journey reveals how deeply this work has transformed our organizational culture and strengthened our shared commitment to safety. Through ambitious goals and sustained effort, quality and safety are now woven into the fabric of our everyday practice. It is brought to life through safety huddles, daily briefs, reliable event reporting, meaningful error prevention education and compassionate approaches to managing behavioural escalation.” - Caring Safely executive sponsors, Joanne Maxwell, vice president of experience, transformation and social accountability (ETSA) and Golda Milo-Manson, vice president of medicine and academic affairs

“Caring Safely has been a powerful driver of our journey toward zero harm, advancing high‑reliability practices and a culture of open learning. This work strengthens how we lead, collaborate and support one another to deliver the safest possible care for clients and families, shaping not only what we do, but who we are as a safety‑driven organization.” - Renee Blomme, director, quality, safety and performance

“As the Caring Safely project manager, I have seen firsthand how meaningful, lasting change happens when safety is built through partnership. Over the past five years, families, staff and leaders came together to strengthen trust and proactively improve safety practices preventing harm before it reaches our clients, families and staff. This impact report celebrates those collective efforts and reinforces our shared commitment to caring safely, today and into the future.” - Melody Hicks, project manager, Caring Safely 

Over the next five years, Caring Safely remains a core strategic priority and an essential part of delivering safe, high-quality care. Holland Bloorview will continue its journey toward high reliability by leveraging shared data across the SPS network, integrating safety with IDEAA priorities and expanding collective learning. Together, we are building a future where safety is embedded in every interaction, every decision and every experience.  All safe. Always.

By Zoe Davidson