HMC’s is the first national ambulance service to achieve the prestigious accreditation twice.
The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s Ambulance Service has achieved the distinction of being re-accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI).
This makes it the first national ambulance service to achieve this prestigious accreditation twice, the corporation said in a statement issued yesterday.
The HMC Ambulance Service first received the accreditation in 2011 and, three years on, is consistently performing at a high level in keeping with JCI expectations, the statement added.
In addition to the Ambulance Service, HMC’s eight hospitals and their homecare service are also accredited by the JCI.
Dr Robert Owen, CEO of the Ambulance Service, said: “My whole team is delighted to be re-accredited by this esteemed organisation. It is an international benchmark that demonstrates that our Ambulance Service is among the best in the world. Accreditation is only possible through collaboration, teamwork and commitment, especially a commitment to continuously improve quality.
“Our priority is to always ensure that we provide the best possible care to our population in a timely, safe and effective manner. Our team members work extremely hard every day to ensure that our services are operated in accordance with the very highest international standards and we are delighted to receive this accreditation that highlights our efforts.
“I would like to thank our managing director, Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, and the leadership of HMC for their unwavering support of the Ambulance Service.”
The standards used by the JCI were developed by international healthcare experts in order to set up consistent attainable expectations for healthcare organisations.
HMC meanwhile said it is hosting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regional training course on radiation safety and quality assurance and quality control in Nuclear Medicine Hybrid Imaging Technology. This internationally recognised training course is designed to raise the professional expertise of the nuclear medicine healthcare professionals who are attending from Qatar and the region.
HMC is well positioned to host such an event as it operates the country’s first and only operational Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) and cyclotron facility. HMC also operates a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography – Computed Tomography (SPECT-CT) unit in the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research’s (NCCCR) Nuclear Medicine Department.
HMC’s PET-CT centre for diagnosis and research is one of the most technologically advanced in the region and is located adjacent to NCCCR. It has scanned close to 3,000 patients since becoming operational. Prior to the establishment of this service by HMC, these patients would have had to seek this procedure outside Qatar.
PET-CT is a form of hybrid imaging that is being discussed during the five-day event, which commenced on October 19, with regional experts in the field of Nuclear Medicine. Hybrid imaging technologies use two different modalities to image the human body. With PET-CT for example, the CT image is superimposed and used with the PET to give physicians highly defined three dimensional pictures of both form and function inside a patient’s body. This increases sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing disease of oncologic, neurologic and cardiologic nature.
In addition to hybrid imaging, the attendees will also be exposed to the PET-CT centre’s cyclotron unit and radio pharmacy production lab that synthesise the radiopharmaceuticals used in PET imaging. The cyclotron is a very advanced piece of equipment that generates a proton beam to produce radioactive isotopes used in advanced synthesis modules in an ultraclean laboratory for each patient having a PET-CT scan.
“HMC has been hosting several IAEA courses in Qatar for the region. This is a unique opportunity to share the latest advancements in hybrid imaging and the rigorous quality assurance and quality control standards that comes with this technology,” said Dr Noora al-Hammadi, chairman of the PET-CT Steering Committee and director of the Radiation Oncology Programme at NCCCR.