ISQua Board members, ISQua Academy and Experts members reached out across the globe in 2019

The Mission of ISQua is “to inspire and empower people to advocate for and facilitate health and improvements, in the quality and safety of healthcare worldwide. Our vision is to transform health, and the quality and safety of healthcare, through global communities.”

We achieve this by providing KNOWLEDGE building our NETWORK and giving you a VOICE

Over the past year, ISQua has extended its presence in all the regions of the WHO. I want to thank ISQua’s Officers, Board members, Academy Members and ISQua Experts for helping to spread ISQua vision.

The Mission of ISQua is “to inspire and empower people to advocate for and facilitate health and improvements, in the quality and safety of healthcare worldwide. Our vision is to transform health, and the quality and safety of healthcare, through global communities.”

We achieve this by providing KNOWLEDGE building our NETWORK and giving you a VOICE

Over the past year, ISQua has extended its presence in all the regions of the WHO. I want to thank ISQua’s Officers, Board members, Academy Members and ISQua Experts for helping to spread ISQua vision.

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Africa

ISQua was very active in Africa in 2019.

In May 2019 Jacqui Stewart (ISQua Board Member), Pat O’Connor (ISQua Expert), Sara Yaron (ISQua Board Member), Gro Berntsen (ISQua Expert), Gilbert Buckle (ISQua Expert), Laetitia Rispel (ISQua Expert), and Maurice Goodman (ISQua Expert) participated in the Quality Management Conference at the Africa Health Congress in Johannesburg on 29 and 30 May as speakers and chairs.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/warming-up-for-cape-town-2019.html

In June 2019, we hosted two regional meetings in Africa. The AFIHQSA Healthcare Quality & Safety Summit was held in Ghana from 17 – 18 June 2019 in the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, Accra.

The theme of the conference was ‘Transforming & Navigating Healthcare Quality & Safety into the Future’, and key speakers included ISQua Board Member and COHSASA CEO, Jacqui Stewart; and ISQua Experts, Dr Gilbert Buckle, Executive Director of AFIHQSA Ghana; Prof. Dr Michael Marx, Dir. Evaplan Ltd., University of Heidelberg, Germany; and Elom Hillary Otchi, Quality & Patient Safety Consultant, Ghana.

http://afihqsa.com/Home/NewsDetails/6

The second conference was a collaboration with the Society for Quality in Health Care in Nigeria (SQHN) and the African Forum for Quality Improvement in Healthcare (AFRIQHER) for a Regional Conference in the Muson Centre, Lagos, Nigeria on 19th June 2019.

The theme of this conference was ‘Patients’ Experience of Care’ and key speakers included ISQua Board Member and COHSASA CEO, Jacqui Stewart; and ISQua Experts, Prof. Dr Michael Marx, Dir. Evaplan Ltd., University of Heidelberg, Germany.

In July 2019, Jacqui Stewart (ISQua Board Member and COHSASA CEO) and her team exhibited at the annual BHF Southern African Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa, promoting ISQua’s upcoming annual conference.

The highlight of our year was, of course, ISQua’s annual conference which we held in Cape Town, South Africa from 20th – 23rd October. Over 1,100 delegates attended the conference, and we were delighted with the feedback from our delegates who rated the programme, atmosphere and staff all very highly.

https://www.isqua.org/events/ct2019.html

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In November 2019, in association with IrishAid and the Quality Division of the MOH in Ethiopia, I visited Addis Ababa to work on quality in hospitals in Ethiopia. I was fortunate to deliver a talk at the Lunch and Learn session at the MOH.

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Americas

Our travel within the Americas in 2019 started in North America. ISQua’s Immediate Past President, Cliff Hughes, and I attended the 7th Annual World Patient Safety, Science and Technology Summit #WPSSTS on 18th January 2019, in California. The Patient Safety Foundation Movement organises this summit.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/aiming-for-zero.html

In February, Jeffery Braithwaite, ISQua’s President-Elect, attended and spoke at the Quality Forum in Vancouver, Canada, hosted by ISQua’s QI Network Member, the British Columbia Council for Quality and Safety.

In December, I attended the IHI National Forum in Orlando, teaching with Fran Griffin at Universal Studios – a fun session focussing on reliability in healthcare and lessons we can learn from the actors and managers at Universal, and with ISQua Expert Pat O’Connor, John Brennan and I ran a session on QI methodology.

In Latin America, we began with the 1st International Health Care Quality Symposium in Havana, Cuba on 27th – 29th March. ISQua Expert, Dr Michael Murray, gave a presentation titled “Continuous improvement and excellence in services” and developed a work program.

Board member Tricia Woodhead and I attended and presented at the Hospitalar Fair / CISS conference in São Paulo in May 2019. While there we were also delighted to be included in ONA’s 20th-anniversary celebration.

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During this time, I also met with the CBA team, including Thiago Constancio, CEO of Medportal, and Heleno Costa Junior, CBA Accreditation Manager, to launch our partnership with Medportal. This allows us to strengthen the commitment we’ve made and broaden ISQua’s footprint in Brazil.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/engaging-in-brazil.html

ISQua Experts Gail Nielsen, John Brennan, Odet Sabaria, Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio, Albert Wu, Enrique Rueles and President-elect Jeffery Braithwaite all attended the joint the 28th OES International Forum in alliance with the Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá and ISQua regional conference in Cartagena from 29th – 31st May. This conference was hosted by OES and led by ISQua Expert, Teresa Tono.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/imagining-the-future.html

I was invited to speak at the 4th International Congress on Patient Safety in Chile (6th – 7th June) which was organised by the FSP Chile – Fundación para la Seguridad del Paciente and led by Dr Hugo Guajardo Guzmán. This was a remarkable conference with a focus on how to be safe. Accompanying me was ISQua Expert Ezequiel García-Elorrio, who was the facilitator of the visit. While in Chile, I also met with the Minister of Health to discuss accreditation and visited the Catholic University Hospital with ISQua Expert Rodrigo Poblete.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/chile-and-isqua.html

In September, ISQua Academy Member, M. Rashad Massoud, and I attended the ISQua Associate conference in Buenos Aries organised by ISQua member IECS as part of the 10th Collaborative Forum on Quality and Safety.

South-East Asia

ISQua has established links with new members PHFI and CAHO in India and will be working with other partners as well going forward.

In April 2019, ISQua Expert, Ravindran Jegasothy, attended and spoke at the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations (CAHO) in Mumbai, India.

https://inewsletter.co/v3NDrx/isqua-membership-bulletin-aprilmay-2019/#/9

A South-East Asia ISQua Community of Practice was set up by ISQua Board Member, Dr BK Rana.

In August 2019, ISQua’s Immediate Past President, Cliff Hughes, spoke at the Annual Scientific Meeting and National Semiloka in Jakarta, Indonesia.

ISQua Expert Vikram Datta represented ISQua at the WHO Seventy-second Session of the Regional Committee in New Delhi, India in September 2019.

https://inewsletter.co/YBMVev/isqua-membership-bulletin-december-issue/#/7

Eastern Mediterranean EMRO

The Fourth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety took place in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 2–3 March 2019. This year’s Summit focused on patient safety in low and middle-income countries and reducing adverse events. ISQua Board Member, Shin Ushiro, on behalf of ISQua, presented ISQua’s ‘Declaration on Universal Health Coverage and Patient Safety’ on the second day (3rd March) of the Summit during the ‘Considerations by NGOs’ session.

https://www.isqua.org/news/fourth-global-ministerial-summit-on-patient-safety.html

In August, ISQua Board Member, Leslee Thompson, and I attended the 7th Annual Congress of the Lebanese Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare, hosted by Roula Hamoud.

In November, I attended the IHF conference in Oman, connecting with many leaders from the EMRO region. Joining me was our new Board member, Salma Jaouni from Jordan, for a presentation on Quality in Crisis Situations to a full house.

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Western Pacific

In February 2019, Past President Cliff Hughes, Accreditation Council Chair Steve Clark, our Head of IEEA, Elaine O’ Connor, and I visited Shenzhen to discuss accreditation at the HKUSZH Conference in Shenzhen, China. We also visited the Shenzhen Hong Kong Hospital.

We continued this conversation at the Conference on International Accreditation ‘Key to Quality and Safety’, in Guangzhou, China, in September.

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In April, ISQua President, Wendy Nicklin, and President-Elect, Jeffrey Braithwaite, were honoured to be invited and attend the 20th Anniversary of JCT in Taipei.

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In June, I attended a conference on External Evaluation in Beijing, organised by ISQua Expert, Ma Liping. Also presenting was ISQua Board member and then ASQUAA Chair, Yuichi Imanaka. We visited ISQua Academy member Professor Liu Tingfang at Tsinghua University.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/perspectives-on-accreditation.html

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In September I travelled to Australia, to meet with three of our QI Network Members: the Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health, South Australia; Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), New South Wales; and Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), Brisbane.

This was an excellent visit to all three bodies and allowed me to meet with ISQua fellows and plan learning journeys.

Europe

In Europe, we are preparing for ISQua 2020 in Florence, so there were numerous meetings in Italy.

In March 2019, the joint ISQua/RCPI Quality in Healthcare Summit was held in Dublin, Ireland. The theme of the conference was ‘Leading for quality in changing times’ and included sessions from ISQua Board Members, Wendy Nicklin, Jeffrey Braithwaite, Stephen Clark, Shin Ushiro, Cliff Hughes, and myself.

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The seventy-second session of the World Health Assembly took place in Geneva from 20th to 28th May 2019, and ISQua was represented by Bruno Lucet (ISQua Board Member) who also provided us with feedback on the session.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/update-from-the-seventy-second-session-of-the-world-health-assembly-20-28-may-2019.html

In July, I travelled to Portugal to attend the HEPS Conference, and the 2nd International Meeting on Patient Safety for New Generations of Healthcare Professionals, in Lisbon. Also speaking at the conference was ISQua Expert, Charles Vincent.

https://www.isqua.org/latest-blog/designing-for-safety-heps2019.html

In Glasgow, the ISQua RCPI QI Scholars met Don Berwick

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In Catania the annual Safety conference in Italy

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In July, I also travelled to Florence and Pisa to present on the Masters in Clinical Risk Management and Patient Safety Course.

In October, I spoke at the PAQS Conference in Brussels, which was hosted by Denis Herbeux. The theme was “Making the shift towards highly reliable healthcare”. ISQua Board member, Leslee Thompson, also attended, as did Deputy Editor of the IJQS, Anthony Staines.

In summary

Overall a busy time for ISQua across the globe – we are truly an international society spreading Knowledge developing Networks and giving people a Voice.

Our members are growing in number, and our Learning Journey programmes are unique opportunities to gain knowledge and develop learning networks with a chance to give yourself a Voice.

 Join ISQua as a Member and be part of an active and respected community of like-minded peers who share your commitment and belief in improving health care safety and quality for all.

https://www.isqua.org/membership.html

 And plan to come to the premier healthcare conference in Florence, Italy

See you in Florence 2020! https://www.isqua.org/events/florence-2020.html

florence 2147625 1920

https://www.isqua.org/events/florence-2020.html

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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.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

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.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

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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.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

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