Stress on patient safety and quality medical care

TheState of Qatar, under the wise leadership of His Highness the EmirSheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has made quality and safety of healthservices the basis for the development of the health system, as QatarNational Vision 2030 emphasises the development of an integratedhealthcare system that provides high-quality preventive and treatmenthealth services according to the highest international standards, HE theMinister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari said.In astatement on the occasion of opening the 3rd Qatar Patient Safety Weekyesterday, the minister underlined that the health sector works toensure the highest levels of patient safety through the provision of thebest safe and effective healthcare.The slogan of this week“Together for Patient Safety” reflects the importance of concertedefforts by all through strong partnerships at the level of the healthsystem as a whole, HE Dr Hanan said, noting that patients and theirfamilies are key partners in this field.She underlined thatactivities organised over the week with an active participation of thehealth sector institutions contribute to the establishment of a cultureof patient safety for all concerned, thus ensuring that patients enjoysafe and high quality medical care.Organised by the Ministry ofPublic Health, the 3rd Qatar Patient Safety Week kicked off with theparticipation of more than 1,000 health practitioners. It will run untilSeptember 30.The event is an initiative and an educational andawareness campaign that promotes the concept of patient safety amongemployees and users of healthcare institutions.The event aims topromote and spread a culture of patient safety through dialogue withdecision-makers in all areas of health in order to develop regulationsand laws necessary to raise awareness about patient safety, and topromote communication between decision makers, healthcare providers andpatients.It will also shed light on the challenges facing theactivation of national initiatives in this area, the development ofappropriate solutions through public-private co-operation, and thecreation of a forum for dialogue between patients and healthcareproviders to enhance patient participation in building a sound healthsystem.The event includes a number of activities, includinglectures, workshops and training programmes, with the participation ofdistinguished experts in the field of quality of healthcare and safetyof patients from inside and outside Qatar.It will also includepresentations for health practitioners and a poster competition forlocal projects on improving quality and safety.Addressing theopening, Director of the Healthcare Quality and Patient SafetyDepartment at the Ministry Huda al-Katheeri highlighted the ministry’srole in promoting patient safety and providing the best quality healthservices according to the highest standards to all citizens and residentof Qatar.She presented a brief summary of the department’sachievements in improving the quality of healthcare and patient safety,and the future plans to improve the quality of health services in Qatar,thus contributing to the achievement of Qatar National Vision 2030.Shenoted that the health ministry held partnerships with many healthsector and medical education institutions in the country, praising thesupport of these partner institutions for this event.The activitiesof the 3rd Qatar Patient Safety Week include seven main tracks:leadership and culture of quality, technology and pharmacologicalsafety, capacity building and engagement of staff, participation ofpatients and their families, national guidelines for patient safety,prevention and control of infection and the decisions based on datacomparable to international indicators and standards.In a statementto the press, al-Katheeri said that the ministry is effectively settingpolicies, legislations and special standards in patient safety.Theministry also controls the implementation of these standards in healthinstitutions, which guarantees the quality of various health services,she added.Through the ministry’s pivotal role in facing theobstacles of patients’ safety, it co-operates with international andregional entities and has an obligation towards these entities to workon bettering patient safety, alongside its guiding role to buildcapacity and provide platforms for the exchange of experiences andinformation, al-Katheeri said.The supervisory role the ministrypractices in improving and securing patient safety starts by issuinglicences to health institutes and health practitioners, since nolicences are issued except after all patient safety standards are met inaddition to periodic visits to health facilities to ensure theapplication of these standards, she added.In the case that a healthinstitute is not following the safety standards, some procedures aredone against the institute and may include the withdrawal of theirlicence in extreme cases and also work with those facilities to improvetheir performance in improving patient safety, she revealed.Al-Katheerisaid Qatar is considered a developed country in patient safety andcontinuously works on advancing the standards and procedures in thisfield.She further noted that two of Qatar’s hospitals have succeededin applying the World Health Organisation (WHO) patient safety friendlyhospital initiative standards, which shows how far standards areimplemented locally.In response to a question about the criteria forgranting work permits to private health facilities, which some believeto be strict, she explained that these standards are ultimately aimed atprotecting the safety of patients and that the ministry is continuouslyreviewing the criteria for granting licences and listening to the viewsof investors in the public health sector in order to develop theservices provided and encourage these investors.Al-Katheeri said theactivities of the event week also include scientific lectures, workpapers, projects and initiatives to develop and improve the quality ofthe patient safety field, as well as training courses, including atraining workshop by Sidra Medical and Research Center as well as asimulation to meet the challenges of patient safety addressed to doctorsand nurses.The event is planned to establish internal and externalnetworks for the exchange of knowledge and information in the field ofquality improvement and patient safety.Public awareness campaigns will take place tomorrow, in a number of health centres.OnSeptember 29 and 30 the campaign will be help in one of the malls tocontribute to expanding awareness and launch initiatives on patientsafety as well as discuss the importance of medical safety and infectioncontrol, and to encourage the attendees to participate and share theirviews on the provided health services to contribute to its development.Thefirst Qatar Patient Safety Week was organised in 2014 and the second in2015, where the two events were a major success and a high demand fromall stakeholders.The annual event is overseen by the Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Department.