The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has published 29 national clinical guidelines and their own pathways for the most common pathologies to be available to health practitioners and health institutions directly through the ministry’s website.
This is part of the National Clinical Guidelines Development Program which aims to standardise healthcare practices, treatment and patients management in all healthcare institutions in Qatar based on best international practices and in line with the culture, practices and reality of the health system in the country.
The programme is implemented by the National Clinical Guideline (NCG) team of the Department of Quality of Health Care and Patient Safety at the Ministry of Public Health and in co-ordination with groups of experts from various health sector institutions in Qatar who have been selected according to specific criteria.
The Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), has conducted an evaluation of the development of clinical guidelines.
The report of the expert on evaluation stated that the development of the guidelines in Qatar is based on sound principles and in accordance with international best practice.
The expert also made recommendations to working with institutions to make those clinical guidelines part of their daily practice, which is currently underway by the Ministry’s working group.
The National Clinical Guideline (NCG) team had held more than 60 workshops for the development of the national guidelines and measuring the impact of their application on patients’ healthcare.
The team has also engaged in communication and co-ordination with key health strategy makers, to enforce these strategies through the development of relevant guidelines.
As part of the field work, the National Clinical Guideline team conducted more than 50 field visits to health institutions to introduce clinical guidelines to health practitioners for inclusion in the daily practices.
These visits included various public and private health institutions.
A number of seminars and meetings were held in the Ministry’s headquarter for the same purpose.
In collaboration with Hamad Medical Corp (HMC), the team established a continuous medical education programme accredited by the Qatar Council for Health Specialties, allowing lectures and panel discussions for HMC health staff.
In the meantime, the National Clinical Guideline were included in the continuous professional education programme of the Primary Health Care Corporation.
