KUWAIT CITY - The New Mowasat Hospital on Saturday launched its first Certified Professional in Health Care Quality (CPHQ) review and study program. According to Dr Ghada Welwel, a certified professional in health care quality, the program is part of the hospital's objective to enhance the performance of its staff -- from the executive level to the bottom. She said New Mowasat Hospital is the first hospital in Kuwait to adopt the service quality standards applied by the Canadian Board. "Through New Mowasat, the private and public hospitals in Kuwait are working hard to adopt these international standards. The hospital is also the first to earn accreditation from the Canadian Council of Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA)," she added. Speaking to the Arab Times, Welwel explained the true meaning of quality. "In a hospital setting, quality takes on a variety of meanings. It encompasses technical excellence. It is also about patient-centred approach to care delivered by the dedicated professionals in the hospital. In addition to having the technical and clinical expertise to provide safe and high quality care, it is also critical that the hospital focuses on other factors in a patient's hospital experience," she asserted.
To ensure quality service, Welwel stressed the need to develop a superior interior infrastructure that can help in providing high quality services, which should start when the patients enter the hospital premises, until they leave, and also a follow up on their health condition after returning home. "For us to develop high quality services, we have to educate the staff of private and public hospitals on how to provide health care quality," she said. "The most important aspect for us is to identify the role of the hospital in bringing this concept and allowing employees from private and public hospitals to learn about updated health care quality services. New Mowasat has greatly contributed in developing a positive competitive spirit to motivate other hospitals to work hard in adopting the latest standards for health care," Welwel revealed.
Welwel also unveiled plans to hold an international conference in February 2010 on the quality of patient care, in addition to the legal responsibility concerning the health and safety of patients among other things. "Professionals from Europe and the Unites States are expected to attend this conference. It will be the first of its kind in the Middle East and hopefully it will take place in collaboration with New Mowasat. We are also continuing our quality service presentations throughout this month and the following month," Welwel concluded.
By Rena Sadeghi
© Arab Times 2009
