DOHA: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in cooperation with its partners, organised several important activities and events during the celebration of the 9th Qatar Patient Safety Week, which was held from Sept 17 to 22 under the theme 'Engaging Patients for Patient Safety'.
The selection of 'Engaging Patients for Patient Safety' as the theme of this year's celebration underscores the critical role that patients, their families and caregivers play in promoting safe care by calling for collaborative work together to 'elevate the voice of patients', a slogan chosen by the World Health Organization to celebrate World Patient Safety Day.
On this occasion, the Ministry of Public Health launched an extensive awareness campaign that included the dissemination of educational messages within health institutions targeting the public and health sector workers of all specialities and levels. The health institutions broadcast awareness videos and publish them on their social networking sites.
Dr Saleh Ali Al Marri, Assistant Minister for Health Affairs of the Ministry of Public Health, said that patient participation is a key pillar to ensure safety in health care, stressing that the involvement of patients and families at all levels of health care contributes to ensuring a healthier future for members of society.
DrAl Marri added that patients and their families are currently involved in the design of the next national health strategy, and in many national initiatives to improve quality and safety such as the national clinical evidence and drug safety programmes.
Huda Amer Al Katheeri, Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and Innovation Department at the Ministry of Public Health, said: "Safe healthcare is a fundamental right for every individual, reinforcing the commitment to advocating for and ensuring patient safety."
She added: "Based on the Ministry of Public Health's belief in the right of patients to participate in health care, the ministry has committed to cooperate with its partners to promote safe health care in Qatar, and this commitment is evident through Qatar National Vision and the National Health Strategy, noting the extent and importance of global interest in involving patients and their families, as it was included as a basic principle in the World Health Assembly resolution WHA72.6 (Global Action on Patient Safety and the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030) as key strategies for moving towards the elimination of avoidable harm in health care."
Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of the Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention Programs at the Ministry of Public Health, said: "Patients and the community must stand as active partners in healthcare, stressing the importance of patient participation in asking questions to healthcare providers."
He added that studies have shown that when patients and their families are treated as partners in their care, significant gains are made in achieving safety by reducing medical errors and access to safe and sound health care and raising the satisfaction of patients and their families with the health services provided to them, which improves health outcomes.
During the celebration, scientific lectures and panel discussions were held within health and educational institutions for health service providers and quality teams to emphasize the concept of engaging patients and its relationship to the safety of service providers and the facility and the integrity of the application of international safety standards. The Risk Management and Patient Safety team at the Ministry of Public Health presented awareness lectures in both Aster Hospital and the Turkish Hospital on the national disclosure policy which is scheduled to be published soon after the end of the current pilot phase, which is being carried out in collaboration with Sidra Medicine and Aster Hospital. This policy revolves around the disclosure of medical errors and the development of national guidelines to enhance the implementation of medical error disclosure policies within health institutions.
Aspetar Hospital also organised a panel discussion during which success stories about engaging patients were shared, highlighting the importance of their participation in the process of healthcare development as the main topic of the celebration. Meetings with patients were also held about their experiences, including presentations on Aspetar's latest innovations in patient safety and the engagement of patients and their families.
The Medical Affairs Sector of Qatar Red Crescent organised several activities throughout the week in all workers' health centres, which included awareness lectures for patients on three main topics, infection control (hand hygiene, cough etiquette, vaccination against communicable diseases), medication safety, and awareness against heat stress.
Some health institutions organised health poster competitions, and general information on patient safety and the importance of engaging patients and their families. The best posters were honoured to encourage health practitioners to innovate, develop, improve, and spread awareness.
Qatar Patient Safety Week is an educational and awareness initiative and campaign aimed at spreading the concept of patient safety among healthcare staff and institutions. Qatar Patient Safety Week was established in 2014, and it represents an important opportunity to promote the patient safety culture through interaction with decision-makers in all health fields to develop the necessary systems and laws to raise the standard of care and spread awareness about the concept of patient safety, in addition to highlighting the challenges facing the activation of national initiatives in this field, finding and developing appropriate solutions through joint cooperation between the public and private health sectors, and creating a forum for dialogue between patients and providers Healthcare to enhance patient participation in building a safe health system.
