Sidra Medicine’s Service Chief for Anesthesiology Dr. Timothy McDonald took part in the first global experts’ consultation for the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) Leaders’ Guide on Patient Safety and Quality of Care in Service Delivery that took place in Geneva this weekend. The Leaders’ Guide is being developed by the WHO to address the global need for strengthening leadership capacity to deliver safe and quality health services.
“Patient safety and quality of care are top priorities for Sidra Medicine and I commend the WHO for launching this timely initiative,” said Dr. McDonald. “The development of the Leaders’ Guide has the potential to have a significant positive impact on safety and quality in the delivery of patient care, as well as promote the importance of leadership in this area.”
The goals of the WHO Leaders’ Guide are, among others, to address the global need for organizational and leadership education and training in patient safety, as well as fostering international collaboration and research in this area. For its part, every aspect of Sidra Medicine is planned to increase patient safety from interconnected technology designed to reduce human error, to innovative employee onboarding and training processes using simulation as a tool for Sidra Medicine’s interprofessional teams to learn and work together to improve patient care and safety.
Although initiatives to address the safety and quality challenges of health-service delivery from a leadership perspective exist in many resource-rich countries, there is currently no single comprehensive initiative to address this at the global level, according to the WHO. Dr. McDonald will contribute to the guide by developing several comprehensive chapters with plans to disseminate the final Guide internationally next year.
“This Leaders’ Guide is dealing with the two areas that matter most to patients and which are top of mind for leaders in institutions around the world. By drawing together the many strands that contribute to safety and quality and putting a strong emphasis on the role that leadership can play in improving their delivery, the initiative will provide leaders with the tools they need to elevate standards. I hope it will also trigger new research in this field,” commented Dr. McDonald.