On behalf of HIFA I send best wishes to all for the opening of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (#ISQua2022) Conference in Brisbane, Australia today.
https://isqua.org/events/brisbane-2022-international-conference.html
As I mentioned in a previous message, "In our [HIFA] discussions on Quality we have raised the question of whether and how quality improvement approaches need to be adapted for low-resource settings. It would be interesting to know what is the relative impact of the SCC in low-resource versus higher-resource settings. To what extent are health workers in low-resource settings able to implement the SCC? I note that one of the main conference tracks for the upcoming ISQuaconference (Brisbane, October 2022) is on 'Quality and safety in low-resource settings'. I think this is a key area for the future."
Another issue we have raised is the vital importance of keeping a focus on the needs of health workers. Some of us have suggested there needs to be a shift in perspective, from the current emphasis on 'patient-centered health systems' to one that more explicitly embraces health workers: 'patient-and-health-worker-centred systems'. This is especially important in LMICs.
Also, we have discussed on HIFA about the two key aspects of quality: health outcomes and patient experience. If health workers are disempowered, quality care is impossible. Asthe World Health Organization now states on its website: 'Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes. *It is based on evidence-based professional knowledge* and is critical for achieving universal health coverage.' [*my emphasis]
The WHO website also highlights the importance of safety – avoiding harm to people for whom the care is intended. When we talk of safety we generally talk of mistakes and failures of communication. We need to talk also of safety as a result of failure to meet health workers' needs - especially their needs for timely access to reliable healthcare information - evidence-based professional knowledge.
We look forward to learn from the epxerience shared in Brisbane.
Best wishes, Neil
Coordinator, WHO-HIFA project on Learning for Quality Health Services
https://www.hifa.org/projects/learning-quality-health-services
Let's build a future where every person has access to reliable healthcare information and is protected from misinformation - Join HIFA: www.hifa.org
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of the HIFA global health movement (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ), a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting on six global forums in four languages in collaboration with WHO. HIFA brings stakeholders together to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK based non-profit in official relations with the World Health Organization.
Twitter: @hifa_org neil@hifa.org
