IHF And ISQua Combine Efforts to Support COVID-19 Response Worldwide

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 May: The International Hospital Federation (IHF) and the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQUA) call for safety for health services, multidisciplinary teamwork for patient-centered care and innovation adoption in response efforts.

In light of the recently held World Health Assembly, non-government healthcare organizations, International Hospital Federation (IHF) and the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) work together in preparing a recommendation plan to support future pandemic response.

Peter Lachman, CEO of ISQua said, “As many countries face the COVID-19 crisis with considerable uncertainty on how the virus will continue its deadly journey in the population, the headlines are now on preparing ourselves ready for the next normal situation. While it is important to recognize the work done individually and institutionally by health workers and health services to save as many as possible lives, it is also now time to put in place what will prevent a crisis of this magnitude in the future.”

IHF and ISQua highlight three important factors to be addressed:

A safety culture protecting both patients and health workers. The lack of protective equipment has caused a global crisis and exposed a lot of patients and healthcare workers to the disease. Healthcare service providers with embedded safety culture programs have had an effective response that made a difference.

The importance of multidisciplinary teamwork for patient-centered care. With most COVID-19 response adapting a multidisciplinary approach due to shortage of staff, the importance of having an integrated holistic patient-centered care program was highlighted. Both organizations call for a systematic education program in which health providers will have interdisciplinary training.

 

Adoption of innovation and agility to have an effective response even in critical situations COVID-19 has featured the capacity of innovation, technology and responsiveness of health providers under extreme conditions such as lack of resources and absence of treatment.

“In addition, the IHF is working closely with a team of experts in healthcare management from all over the world to form a Beyond COVID-19 Task Force. The aim of this task force is to come up with a solid recommendation plan based on the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent a health crisis of this scale in the future.” Eric de Roodenbeke, CEO of IHF said.

The joint statement of IHF and ISQua can be viewed here.

About the International Hospital Federation (IHF)

Established in 1929, the IHF is an international not for profit, non-governmental membership organization with the vision of “A world of healthy communities served by well managed hospitals and health services where all individuals reach their highest potential for health.” Its members are worldwide hospitals and healthcare organizations having a distinct relationship with and contribution to the provision of healthcare. IHF provides its members with a platform for the exchange of knowledge, strategies and experience as well as opportunities for international collaborations with different actors in the health sector. IHF recognizes the essential role of hospitals and health care organizations in providing health care, supporting health services and offering education. Its role is to help international hospitals work towards improving the standard, quality and level of their service delivery to the population with the primary goal of improving the health of society. www.ihf-fih.org

About the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)

The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) is a member-based, not-for-profit community that delivers a variety of initiatives and programmes. Our mission is to inspire and drive improvement in health, and the safety and quality of healthcare worldwide.

When you join ISQua, you are investing in yourself, in addition to changing health care quality across the world. We foster a global community of passionate healthcare professionals, who are united by a single common goal: safer healthcare.

Being a member gives you access to ISQua’s global community, exclusive website content, discounts to our conferences, access to the International Journal for Quality in Health Care, exclusive access to industry experts and much more. Find out more at https://www.isqua.org/membership.html.

ISQua has created a resource page for COVID-19. We have collated resources from around the world to help provide the most up to date information to the healthcare community. Here you will find links to webinars, articles, research papers, recordings, podcasts, and other research portals. These resources are updated regularly. https://www.isqua.org/covid19-research-page.html

Join ISQua to improve your Knowledge, build your Network, and make your Voice heard.

For more information, contact:

Shane Razo                                                                  Sinead McArdle

Communications Officer                                                Communications Officer

International Hospital Federation (IHF)                         International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)

[email protected]                                                  [email protected]

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Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

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Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

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I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

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Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

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Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

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Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

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