Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has announced two of the keynote speakers for this year’s Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare who will offer delegates a very different perspective on healthcare provision. 
One of the keynote speakers is a life-long patient, Tiffany Christensen, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was six months old. At 12 years, she had her first stay in a hospital. She has lived with chronic, acute and terminal illness, spending decades in the medical system – overcoming obstacles. 
Christensen has written two books and presented over a thousand lectures to healthcare providers, patients, and families. She works to better connect healthcare systems and patients, helping patients, and their families, navigate the physical, emotional, and spiritual terrain they face. Christensen will share her experience at the conference with the aim of bridging the gap between the patient perspective and the provider experience. 
The other speaker is Proffesor Najmedin Meshkati – an expert on the interface between humans and technology. For the past 30 years, he has been teaching and conducting research on risk reduction and reliability enhancement of complex technological systems, including nuclear power, aviation, petrochemical, and transportation industries. 
Meshkati was the technical adviser on two national panels in the US investigating major accidents. He has inspected many petrochemical and nuclear power plants around the world, including Chernobyl (1997), Fukushima Daiichi, and Daini (2012). He has worked with the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board as an expert on human factors and safety culture and on the investigation of the BP Refinery explosion in Texas City (2005). 
Meshkati will be able to provide delegates with a unique view on working with technology and how risks can be managed.
Dr Ron Wyatt, HMC’s chief quality officer said: “When we think about quality and safety in healthcare, we often think about it from the view of a healthcare provider. Whilst this is helpful and a lot can be learned through speaking with colleagues, sharing best practice and lessons learned and hearing about the latest thinking, it won’t give us the full picture. We need to understand the patient perspective to continuously improve the quality of care we provide.” 
The fifth Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare will take place from May 5 to 7 at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
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