Qatar health sector’s resilience highlighted at the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2023

Speaking at the opening ceremony of this year’s Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, the Minister of Public Health, Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, praised the resilience of Qatar’s healthcare, while expressing her pleasure at hosting the first in-person forum since 2019.

H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari said. “As with many aspects of life, we had to change the way we do things throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and that meant delivering this important Forum virtually. But COVID-19 did not stop us; we just had to adapt and do things differently. This is a wonderful example of Healthcare Resilience in Extraordinary Times; the perfect theme for this year’s Forum.”

وزيرة الصحة العامة خلال كلمتها في منتدى الشرق الاوسط للجودة والسلامة في الرعاية الصحية 2023

Her Excellency the Minister of Public Health speaks during the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2023. pic.twitter.com/ijP6KLsq3K

— مؤسسة حمد الطبية (@HMC_Qatar) March 18, 2023

Lauding the healthcare sector’s response to COVID-19, the Minister said that by working together across the healthcare system, healthcare teams have contributed significantly to Qatar having one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates and one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.

The Minister further highlighted several of the health sector’s key achievements since 2020, including:

• Opening Aisha Bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital – the second largest HMC hospital in terms of size and capacity – further strengthening the public sector hospital network.
• Opening 6 new state-of-the-art health and wellness centers, taking the total number of Primary Health Care Corporation health centers to 31 and improving care provision in the community.
• Achieving World Health Organization “Healthy City” status for all eight municipalities, becoming the first country in the world to achieve this status for all its municipalities, in addition to similar awards for Qatar University and Education City.
• Designation for HMC’s Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care as WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, in addition to Collaborating Center agreements for the WHO Collaborating Center for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis with Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, and the WHO Collaborating Center for Treating Tobacco Dependence with the HMC’s Tobacco Control Center.
• Implementing a range of telemedicine and virtual services across the public health sector, including the National Mental Health Helpline, making access to care more convenient than ever before.
• Gaining Planetree International Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care at 5 HMC facilities, formally recognizing the highest levels of achievement in person-centered care.
• Having 4 HMC hospitals and Sidra Medicine ranked among the world’s top 250 academic medical centers, highlighting the health sector’s commitment to combining patient care, medical research and education to achieve the best outcomes and experience for patients.

Adding that they are committed to constantly moving forward, the minister highlighted the plans of the health sector for 2023 which will be:

• Implementing the new National Insurance Program
• Providing fast access to care for patients
• Ensuring Qatar’s healthcare system continues to be a regional leader for quality and safety in healthcare, delivering services on par with the world’s best health systems.

The Minister also stressed on the importance of global health security and Qatar’s role in supplying relief to countries in crisis such as the most recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Adding a twist to the usual programme, for the first time, this year’s forum included eleven immersive off-site excursions for attendees, two of which highlighted the key role played by the healthcare sector in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

ينظم برنامج المنتدى لهذا العام ولأول مرة ١١ جولة استكشافية للحضور؛ حيث تسلط اثنتان منها الضوء على الدور الرئيسي الذي قام به قطاع الرعاية الصحية في استضافة مونديال قطر ٢٠٢٢ . pic.twitter.com/zMQdfYWjEC

— مؤسسة حمد الطبية (@HMC_Qatar) March 16, 2023

The forum which kicked-off on March 16 is being held in Qatar bringing together more than 3000 healthcare professionals from Qatar, the region and around the world.

Hosted by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) under the theme Healthcare Resilience in Extraordinary Times, the forum will focus on five learning tracks for those attending which are:

• Improvement Science
• Person-Centered Care
• Flow, Safety and Value Improvement
• Leadership, Resilience and Sustainability
• Population Health

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