The Managing Director of HMC Dr Hanan Al Kuwari speaking at the Middle East Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare conference at the Qatar National Convention Centre. RIGHT: Juanita Romans of MFR Healthcare Solutions at a workshop on the sidelines of the forum yesterday.
DOHA: The growing population in Qatar and in the region is a major challenge for the healthcare sector, according to a senior official at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
The fast growing demands and expectations on health services while continuously improving quality, said Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of HMC, speaking at Middle East Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare, the first of its kind conference that began in Doha yesterday at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
The three-day event is organised by the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) with 2,000 local, regional and international experts to discuss quality improvement imperatives and challenges facing the medical profession.
“Our population has trebled in the past 10 years, that is placing great demand on our services,” said Dr Al Kuwari.
“Our populations and patients rightly expect that the best healthcare in the world should be available to them in their own country.”
“But that itself is a moving target, because healthcare is such a dynamic and fact changing sector,” added Dr Al Kuwari.
Donald Berwick MD, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the IHI said that the Forum will help build momentum and bring new ideas and methodologies to the region through the organisation’s unique learning modules.
“At the IHI, we have worked for over 25 years to fulfil our vision of a future in which everyone receives the best healthcare possible,” he said. “In Doha we will be focusing on the basics of improvement; creating cultures of safety and innovation; the critical importance of measurement; as well as how to sustain positive change through learning labs, workshop and rapid fire sessions.”
IHI President and CEO Maureen Bisognano said delegates at this conference will learn practical steps that could be made in their organisation in support of promoting a safety conscious culture.
“At IHI we are working with others to build a future in which everyone has the best care and health possible. Since IHI was founded nearly 25 years ago, our vision for improvement has always been anchored by the concept of “all teach, all learn,” assembling a unique team that works in collaboration with our partners to spread best practices and improvement capability,” said Bisognano.
The Peninsula
