Baseline Chiropractic and Wellness Centre

In this section :

Dr. Kelly Fleck and his team at Baseline Chiropractic and Wellness Centre in Sherwood Park, Alberta, realized that to fully integrate musculoskeletal care into primary care, they needed to expand their approach to patient safety. After participating in Healthcare Excellence Canada's (HEC) Rethinking Patient Safety Action Series, they developed a comprehensive patient safety strategy for their clinic. This initiative was supported by the Chiropractic Association of Alberta, which has advocated for a national patient safety strategy for chiropractic care.

Through a series of chiropractic roundtable meetings, stakeholders discussed the concept of harm, how and why they should broaden their view of harm and what they could do to bring it into the wider discussion across their profession.

Dr. Fleck and his team also identified four key strategies for reducing harm and enhancing safety in their clinic: strengthening patient consent processes, updating emergency first aid procedures, launching a lunch-and-learn series on providing care that meets the needs of underserved communities and enhancing collaboration with other healthcare providers.

These discussions and activities brought patient safety to the forefront at Baseline and have inspired ongoing daily huddles where safety concerns and updates are discussed. It’s given a voice to the diverse experiences of both patients and practitioners and fostered an environment of safety and trust.

Dr. Fleck believes a culture of no shame, no blame, is required to move the chiropractic profession forward and to ensure harmful events are properly reported and learned from. When these events are viewed as learning opportunities rather than shameful mistakes, it inspires a culture of progress and an environment of supportive teamwork.

Dr. Kelly Fleck and the Chiropractic Association of Alberta hope to inspire the chiropractic community to unite at a national level, advocating for a more robust approach to patient safety. Through courageous leadership and a commitment to elevating the patient’s voice, they aim to make patient safety a standard in chiropractic care. By expanding the scope of informed consent and training staff on more inclusive approaches to care, they are going beyond physical safety, broadening their understanding of harm to encompass all forms, and ensuring a more comprehensive, patient-centered approach.