HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani speaking at the ongoing 32nd ISQua in Doha yesterday.

By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

Qatar is keen on making quality the main base of the country’s health system development process, HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani asserted yesterday.
He was speaking at the ongoing 32nd Conference of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) in the presence of Qatar Foundation chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
The Prime Minister explained that Qatar believes in the importance of quality in the healthcare sector. “Through the National Health Strategy, we are working to create an effective regulatory framework to ensure the quality of healthcare and patient safety.
“A number of important national projects have been implemented in this regard, most notably the development of a regulatory framework for licensing health practitioners. The Qatari Council for Health Specialties was established to regulate the work of health practitioners in Qatar.”
He pointed out that a regulatory framework for healthcare facilities was also developed through the National Programme for the Licensing and Accreditation of Healthcare facilities, which is unique and integrates the licensing and accreditation standards in one programme.
“One of the important projects is the application of performance agreements between the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) and all health service providers in the public and private sectors. The project works to empower health providers to use a common framework for the process of measurement and evaluation of institutional performance. It also allows decision-makers’ effective use of the results of these indicators in developing policies and legislation that improve the quality of corporate
performance.”
The Prime Minister highlighted that the national health insurance enhances the quality of healthcare, and contributes to the availability of health services to beneficiaries through public and private health facilities. “It gives the patient the right to choose the appropriate service provider, which creates a healthy competition between providers of these services.”
He lauded the efforts made by ISQua to improve the quality of healthcare worldwide by pointing out that ISQua has taken “building quality and safety in the healthcare system” as its slogan on the basis that quality and safety in this field cannot be achieved without strong
foundations.
The conference, held for the first time in the Middle East since 1996, is themed ‘Building Quality and Safety into the Healthcare System.’
HE the Minister of Public Health Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani, HMC managing director Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, ISQua president David Bates, and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) executive chair Prof Lord Darzi were also present at the opening ceremony.
ISQua president Bates welcomed the gathering and introduced the topics of discussion for the conference. A large number of experts from different countries in the world are taking part in the conference. The conference will explore various ways of enriching the distinctive experiences in improving the quality of healthcare and finding innovative solutions to the
challenges in this area.