SCH Official to QNA: National Survey to Measure Patient Satisfaction

Doha, June 27 (QNA) - A national survey measuring patient satisfaction towards health services will be implemented during the upcoming months, Dr. Aisha Abdullah Alaali, Accreditation Manager at the Quality Department for Healthcare and Patient Safety Affairs at the Qatar Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said. In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Alaali stressed the importance and role of this national survey in placing the patient at the focus and as a crucial point of reference in formulating planning processes and ensuring constant improvement in line with the SCH Quality Department's goals. The survey's results will be studied and analyzed, followed by the provision of appropriate advisory to the concerned institutions, she said, adding that a primary database will be created and used as a baseline for comparison with future surveys. Conducted on all patients and healthcare users in both the public and private sectors, the survey will include child and adult emergency services, women and childbirth, as well as primary healthcare, the Accreditation Manager indicated. The project will last for a period of around six months inclusive of questionnaires, collection, and publishing, she remarked adding that results will be available on different local media outlets and scientific magazines, with the survey to be conducted in the future on a yearly basis. The SCH will provide consultative services for development and advancement, the Accreditation Manager said. The Council aims to move services forward with this project, setting quality standards including criteria for service usage, general safety, optimum resource allocation, treatment effectiveness, focusing on the patient, and continuous support for related social institutions like the Qatar Diabetes Association and the Qatar Cancer Society in addition to bolstering a professional environment for these sectors, she explained. The SCH will hold an international conference on quality and patient safety next April 2013, Alaali pointed out. It will be the first of its kind, presenting the perfect opportunity for knowledge exchange, she indicated. Furthermore, the SCH official noted that the project on private hospitals acquiring international accreditation is in its last stages, remarking that three hospitals chose Canadian accreditation and one Australian. All health sectors in Qatar will require national accreditation in the future, which will help apply standards based on the best practices to improve services provided by the health sector, she said explaining the three stages of the process; licensing, basic accreditation, and special accreditation. (QNA)