The key challenges facing health systems trying to provide safe, high quality patient care will be the focus of an event to take place on July 15 in Doha, Qatar.

The fourth event in the Leading Health Systems Network’s (LHSN) Safer Care Webinar Series: ‘ The Road to Safer Care: The Challenge for Health Systems’ was announced by the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), in partnership with Imperial College London.

The featured speaker is professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) envoy for patient safety and chairman of the Independent Monitoring for the Polio Eradication Programme. He is also the chair of Health Policy at Imperial College London and chancellor of Newcastle University.

“Over the last decade, patient safety has become a priority for all health systems around the world. Yet, healthcare still struggles to match the year-on-year improvements achieved in other high-risk industries. In healthcare, declaring a goal of zero serious avoidable harm brings out the cynics. In other industries, it motivates and inspires. A growing patient safety movement is striving to break the status quo,” said Sir Donaldson.

WISH launched the LHSN Safer Care Accelerator Programme to share best practice and inspire health systems worldwide to provide safer care for patients, said a statement.

The year-long programme will bring together a global network of healthcare organisations to exchange insights, experiences, and data on the topic of patient safety, culminating in the publication of a global report, it said.

So far, 18 organisations spanning six continents have joined the effort, including Hamad Medical Corporation and Sidra Medical and Research Center from Qatar.

Hanan Al Kuwari, managing director of Hamad Medical Corporation, said: “At Hamad Medical Corporation, our patients are at the heart of everything we do - we aim to deliver the safest, most effective and most compassionate care to every one of them. In order to do that we know we must continue to evolve and innovate.

“Global initiatives like WISH and the LHSN Safer Care Accelerator enable us to share innovations in patient safety and best practice in healthcare. This is of great value because it brings together the best minds from around the world with a common goal – creating better healthcare, globally.”

Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, executive chair of WISH, said: “Patient safety remains a priority for most healthcare systems around the world, and the burden of avoidable harm remains worryingly high. Through our LHSN Safer Care Accelerator, we hope to disseminate best practice to support healthcare leaders and policymakers in improving their healthcare system’s safety record and patient experience.”

The Safer Care Accelerator Programme is part of WISH and Imperial College London’s LHSN initiative. Established in 2009, LHSN has worked with 21 health systems in 11 countries helping them to overcome the challenges they face in providing high-value care to the populations they serve, said the statement.

The members of LHSN compare performance relative to their peers, learn from experts and frontline implementers during webinars, and are active members in a community committed to care improvement and innovation, it added. - TradeArabia News Service