According to Mr. Nasser Al Naimi, Deputy Chief of Quality, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and Director of the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI), nearly 300 healthcare providers working across Qatar’s health sector have received specialist training to improve sepsis and venous thromboembolism (VTE) care. He said that since the Institute was established by HMC in 2014, hundreds of healthcare professionals working across the country have joined forces to collaborate on a number of improvement projects, all aimed at ensuring the best possible patient care.
“Training staff in quality improvement and creating opportunities to share this expertise across the health system is essential to helping an organization deliver better and safer patient care. HHQI is a first-of-its-kind resource that aims to facilitate sustainable healthcare improvement,” said Mr. Al Naimi.
In recent years, the HHQI has made tremendous progress supporting healthcare organizations in their quality improvement efforts to deliver safer, more effective, patient-centered care. Last year, the Institute successfully initiated the National Patient Safety Collaborative (NPSC), in partnership with the US-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The NPSC aims to raise safety standards across the country’s public healthcare sector, with an initial focus on reducing sepsis-related mortality and improving the management of patients at risk of VTE, a disease that includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
“Healthcare staff understanding, and adhering to, key international best practice protocols in relation to the care of patients with suspected sepsis and VTE is among the tangible achievements of the National Patient Safety Collaborative. Many facilities now document a 95 percent compliance with the Sepsis Six - a bundle of medical therapies designed to reduce mortality in patients with sepsis. They are also seeing a VTE risk assessment rate of nearly 100 percent in higher-risk patients, such as trauma patients and high-risk pregnancies,” noted Mr. Al Naimi.
To date, nearly 300 healthcare professionals, working in 38 teams across 12 facilities have engaged in targeted sessions designed to help them learn and work together on select improvement projects. With participants from different disciplines across HMC, Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Sidra Medicine, and Qatar Red Crescent, the groups have been coached on how to support and encourage a culture of continuous learning, improvement, and safety across the healthcare system in Qatar.
Mr. Al Naimi says Qatar’s NPSC is another example of how health sector collaborations are improving patient safety and care. He said the NPSC is based on the IHI Breakthrough Series, an internationally approved model to achieve innovative initiatives that aim to support and encourage a culture of continuous learning, improvement, and safety across the healthcare system.
“The National Patient Safety Collaborative provides opportunities for networking, learning, and knowledge sharing. Collaborative members have a common goal, and a mission-driven kinship to enhance the delivery of safe care through their work and successes,” said Mr. Al Naimi.
Last year the HHQI visited more than 200 sites and met with more than 800 healthcare professionals as part of the NPSC program. The initiative has facilitated cross-facility collaboration to bolster improvements and maximize lessons learned.