Sharing stories. Connecting people. Making healthcare safer.

In-service program at GR Baker Memorial Hospital spreads learning among staff

Fentanyl patches are an effective pain reliever for the treatment of chronic pain. When not used correctly, such as administering the wrong type of patch or mixing with other high-dose medications, it can lead to serious harm or even death. At GR Baker Memorial...

Why blogging in healthcare makes sense

72% of Internet users say they have looked online for health information within the past year. 52% of smartphone owners have used their phone to look up health or medical information (Pew Internet Research). Increasingly, people are exploring various health-related...

BC PSLS is about ‘learning’: How Fraser Health is improving quality and safety in Residential Care

Making the transition from one's home to a Residential Care facility is a life changing moment that requires thoughtful consideration from everyone involved, including the individual moving into the care facility, his/her loved ones, and care staff. While Residential...

Berwick’s report to NHS hits close to home

There's been a lot of interesting discussion online following the release of Don Berwick’s report to the NHS, A promise to learn – a commitment to act. Critics of the report say that, while it provides sound observations about the complexities of healthcare in the NHS...

Reducing safety events involving Labs: how BC PSLS is driving quality improvement at BCCH

By Guest Blogger: Tracie Northway Any change usually has a learning curve and the implementation and full utilization of BC Patient Safety Learning System (BC PSLS) have proven to be just that. At BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) we have spent a significant amount of...

How a ‘simplified’ reporter form is increasing reporting rates and patient safety at BC Children’s

Each year, clinical staff working in the Perioperative Suites at BC Children’s hospital report upwards of 500 safety events in BC PSLS. A significant number, but Warren Hill, the Quality & Safety Leader on the Unit, believed it wasn’t the full “safety” picture,...

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Mission & Vision

Our mission is: To make health care safer for all British Columbians by fostering a culture of safety, shared learning and continuous system improvement.

Our vision is: Safe health care for BC: No needless harm.

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Who We Are

BC Patient Safety & Learning System (BCPSLS) is a web-based tool used by approximately 100,000 health care providers across BC to report and learn about patient safety events, near misses and hazards. BCPSLS has fostered improvements in patient safety and quality of care in all health care settings since its inception in 2008.

Today, we are focused on streamlining data collection and output, enhancing learning across our health care system and improving the quality of our modules and tools.

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What We Do

Over 400 safety event reports are submitted to BCPSLS each day from across the province. This data is allowing us to identify safety concerns and target quality and safety improvements where they’re needed most. To date, over one million safety event reports are in the BCPSLS database. Data summaries provide a rich basis for learning and improvement to over 10,000 healthcare leaders across BC.