November 3, 2022 – Ontario’s specialty pediatric hospitals are standardizing the type of feeding tube equipment they use for children and youth, making the administration of nutrition and medications safer. By end of January 2023, hospitals with the Children’s Health Coalition will all be using ENFit feeding tube connectors.

ENFit, a global patient-safety initiative, makes mealtime and medication administration by tube as safe as possible by reducing the risk of misconnection and leakage. ENFit feeding tube connectors are designed so they cannot inadvertently connect to other delivery systems, such as trach tubes, IV lines and catheters. It also uses a twist-in connection rather than a friction-held legacy connector.

This design comes with enhanced cleaning practices to prevent the buildup or residue from feeds or liquid medications. The ENFit system also comes with specific medication accessories to ensure best dose accuracy of medications.

Ontario’s pediatric specialty hospitals are working together with community agencies and children’s treatment centres to ensure a smooth and safe transition to ENFit for patients and families.

The Children’s Health Coalition encourages all health-care institutions that use feeding tube connectors to adopt the ENFit system, to ensure kids remain as safe and healthy as they can while in care.

To learn more, visit our ENFit FAQ featuring some of the most common questions asked by patients and families.

For information on preparing and administering medications using ENFit, visit stayconnected.org or read more about ENFit cleaning procedures.