Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of HMC, with officials during the staff award ceremony at Katara Cultural Village.
DOHA: The new appointment system at outpatient clinics of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has helped reduce the waiting time for patients by more than 75 percent, a senior HMC official has said.
Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of HMC, while speaking at a staff award ceremony at Katara Cultural Village recently said that introduction of the fixed time appointment system was a major achievement over the past 12 months.
“Early results from the clinics across Hamad General Hospital indicate wait times have reduced by more than 75 percent as a result of the new appointment system,” said Al Kuwari.
She said, by the end of this year, any patient referred to a cancer specialist will be seen within 48 hours, with major improvement in cancer services.
Al Kuwari congratulated the nominees for the Stars of Excellence awards that were presented during the ceremony.
“A recent Gallup survey showed a 90 percent satisfaction rate among HMC’s patients. This is tremendous recognition that our shared passion for changing lives for the better is working,” she added.
“The Stars of Excellence event is as unique as HMC itself. It recognizes our achievements and progress towards our goal of delivering the highest levels of patient care to the people of Qatar. Together, we make a difference to the lives of people across the nation on a daily basis. We do this through our international-standard clinical services which we are continually seeking to improve; through our commitment to research, education and training in order to bring tangible benefits to our patients; and through our ongoing investment in our people, innovation and technology,” said Al Kuwari.
The Stars of Excellence program was organised by HMC’s Center for Healthcare Improvement (CHI) working closely with the Managing Director’s Office.
“We have received 360 nominations this year – a staggering 84 percent increase on the 196 that were received in 2011. The caliber of submissions is also improving each year. These developments indicate the strong impact and widespread appreciation of the awards program across the organization,” said Nasser Al Naimi, CHI’s executive director.
“Within the Health category we recognized five streams of excellence: Performance, Service, Practice (Clinical or Operational), Technological Innovation and Leadership Team Impact. An Education Award and a Research Award were also given in recognition of the two other pillars intertwined with Health. This year we have also introduced a special Managing Director’s Award to recognize exceptional teams and projects,” he added.
Eight winners were named under the above streams. One of the winners was the team that managed the project to build the PET-CT Center. This is Qatar’s first operational Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) and cyclotron facility for the diagnosis and research of cancer and other ailments.
The Peninsula
