The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is organising the 5th Qatar Patient Safety Week from September 15-21, with the participation of more than 1,000 health practitioners from various medical institutions across Qatar.
Patient Safety Week coincides with the first-ever World Patient Safety Day, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for to be celebrated on September 17 to raise awareness of patient safety and urged people concerned to demonstrate their commitment to making healthcare safer.
Qatar Patient Safety Week is an annual event organised by the MoPH at the national-level as an initiative and an educational and awareness campaign aimed at spreading the concept of patient safety among the workforce in healthcare institutions and their employees and to keep up with the international developments in this field.
Huda Amer al-Kathiri, acting director, Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at the MoPH, said that in light of the outstanding success of the event in its previous sessions, the ministry is keen to continuously develop its activities to achieve the primary objective of making healthcare safer.
“The week is widely supported by health and educational institutions in the country. Among the main themes of this year’s events are understanding the challenges that can hinder talking about patient safety to patients, their families and healthcare practitioners, proposing strategies, models, and initiatives that can improve patient speaking behavior,” said al-Kathiri, adding that it will also explore the concept of patient safety and quality in the face of emergencies and adversity as a prerequisite for achieving universal health coverage and its impact on providing health services, and efforts on regional and international levels.
It will also discuss the practice of medicine in the context of Qatari law, identifying deficiencies and opportunities for improvement to achieve the safety of patients and the health workforce. Also, it will discuss local programs to encourage health personnel and patients to speak for the safety of patients and to identify opportunities for participatory and reciprocal learning.
Al-Kathiri added that the week will also discuss the safety of the healthcare workforce as a priority and ways to protect their safety, and the importance of developing a national patient safety reporting and learning system. In addition to quality and safety initiatives related to mental health in Qatar and the role of national clinical guidelines in creating a safer health system, highlighting the importance of patient participation in the development of national clinical guidelines and an update on e-health and its impact on patient safety. (QNA)
Source:gulf-times.com
