Qatar as a nation under a strong leadership has put in huge efforts and made tremendous advances in the field of healthcare quality improvement in recent years. Numerous national quality improvement programmes initiated in Qatar over time have significantly enhanced the healthcare system, according to an expert.
The development of National Health Vision 2020 along with Qatar National Health Strategies, Qatar National Patient Safety Collaborative, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI), the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare — an annual international conference on patient safety, quality and patient experience improvement — and Ministry of Public Health’s annual safety week are just a few key initiatives and milestones, said Dr Sharda Udassi, Senior Attending Physician at Sidra Medicine and Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine.
“The leadership’s commitment is there. We all need to join the forces to move forward. For that all individuals who are part of the healthcare systems across the country including education systems along with patients and families from the community need to get involved and do their part to improve the safety, quality and family experience of healthcare in Qatar,” she told The Peninsula.
One of the major health care related events Qatar hosted recently was this year’s Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare Conference with a focus on ‘Patient Safety First.’ Dr Udassi presented two topics related to patient safety, quality improvement and patient experience. One, on the ‘Innovative use of technology for patient safety and quality improvement’ while the second presentation focused on how patient and family-centric care can improve patient safety.
“My Professional career passion is to make a significant impact on the quality of healthcare. In this day and age it is no more sufficient to say that we are providing healthcare to our community. As healthcare providers — physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other related staff, we all need to provide the best healthcare available to all our patients and families. Seeing a child recovering quickly from illness with the whole family’s relief and happiness, inspires me to do more and more,” said Dr Udassi.
“This inspiration has taken me to the next step where I want to help improve the healthcare systems on a larger scale so that all patients and families receive the best possible healthcare for their loved ones. To do that I have been serving as the physician director of quality for children’s services,” she added.
Dr Udassi has done American Board of Medical Quality (ABMQ) Certification in Medical Quality and over the last four years, she has initiated or been active member of various committees and workgroups that work on improving the quality of healthcare in Sidra Medicine, nationally with Hamad Medical Corporation, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute and Ministry of Public Health.
