Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) received awards at the 2024 Global Person-Centred Care Forum organised by Planetree International recently, in New Orleans, US.
Planetree is a non-profit at the forefront of the movement to transform healthcare from the perspective of patients for more than 45 years. Hundreds of professionals from across the US and more than 20 countries attended the forum.
Qatar's delegation was led by Nasser al-Naimi, HMC’s chief of Patient Experience and director of Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute along with Dr Nidal Asaad, CEO and medical director of Heart Hospital, and Dr Huda Hussain Saleh, executive director of Women’s Wellness and Research Center (WWRC).
During the Forum, HMC’s Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) was awarded Gold Certification with Distinction for Leadership and Innovation in Person-Centred Care (PCC) by Planetree. ACC is first out of five HMC facilities undergoing recertification for excellence in PCC. With this achievement, ACC has become the first site in the region and fifth in the world to achieve this feat.
“Transforming into a person-centred healthcare organisation requires a cultural shift, a process that has been ongoing since we established our partnership with Planetree in 2017. Over the years, we have continued to evolve and collectively change the culture of our work environment as part of our commitment to improving the entire healthcare experience by engaging patients, families, and all levels of staff,” said al-Naimi.
One of the highlights in the Forum included ten HMC staff recognised for achieving Fellowship in Person-Centred Care, as evidenced by their professional work of putting person-centered care into action.
The WWRC won the PCC Innovation Award for the implementation of triage-coloured cards at WWRC Emergency Department and PCC Best Poster Awards for 'Enhancing Patient Experience through Comprehensive Healthcare Access and Support Service Personalised Care' and 'Reducing Pre-Operative Waiting Time in Daycare Surgery in ACC'.
Al-Naimi was recognised for his advancement of Person-Centred Care in Qatar, including the Spirit of Planetree Award recipients while Dr Saleh, of WWRC, and Nadya al-Rauili, executive director of Private Nursing Services and Home Healthcare Services, for their individual contributions to cultural transformation and dedication to humanising the care experience.
Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, chief medical officer of HMC said: “By putting patients and their families at the centre of all the decisions we make and by making all services co-designed with the community, our commitment to person-centred care as an organisation is in alignment to Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy and the National Health Strategy 2024-2030”.
HMC officials at the forum
