Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Enaya Specialised Care Center has become the first facility in Qatar to achieve certification for excellence in person-centred care from Planetree International.
The Communicable Disease Center, the Ambulatory Care Center, Home Health Care Service, and the Private Nursing Service are currently undergoing certification.
Enaya’s milestone was marked recently by a small socially-distanced in-person event that included HMC leaders and staff, representatives from Planetree, and patients and their families, many of whom joined virtually.
The Enaya Specialised Care Center is a support facility that works with Hamad General Hospital and Rumailah Hospital and provides 24-hour care to long-term patients who are in a stable condition.
The centre features 156 patient beds and is the only specialised facility of its kind in Qatar.
Planetree is a not-for-profit organisation that partners with healthcare organisations around the world to transform how patient care is delivered.
Nasser al-Naimi, deputy chief of Quality, Centre for Patient Experience and Staff Engagement and director for the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute, said: “Planetree’s independent certification committee evaluated the Enaya Specialised Care Center against 26 specific criteria and determined it has met the standards to be deemed silver certified for excellence in person-centred care.The Planetree certification represents the highest level of achievement in person-centred care based on evidence and standards.”
“At HMC, our person-centred care programme drives our overall quality improvement efforts of identifying areas of improvement. It is also driving our teams to find innovative ways to further enhance patient experience.
“We look forward to all of our facilities achieving this important milestone,” added al-Naimi.
Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, Qatar’s National Health Strategy lead for Healthy Ageing and medical director of Rumailah Hospital and Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, said the criteria used by Planetree to assess Enaya addressed components of a person-centred healthcare experience, including the quality of patient-provider interactions, access to information, family involvement and the physical environment of care.
An integral part of the move towards person-centred care and the certification process was the establishment of a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) at Enaya.
This council met monthly for more than 18 months and advised on a variety of issues.
“The PFAC at Enaya was trailblazing in many ways. Working collaboratively with the care team, they designed and implemented projects with the Enaya team – including patient room whiteboards and a care partner programme and worked to jointly set goals in the strategic plan for Enaya,” said Dr al-Hamad.
“This certification is the only programme of its kind and formally recognises the ability of the team at Enaya to deliver excellence in person-centered care.
“The accreditation includes empathy and compassion training for staff and the development of a framework for delivering an exceptional experience for both the care receiver and the giver,” added Dr al-Hamad.
Dr Susan Frampton, president of Planetree International, said: “Person-centred care is becoming an area of increasing focus in health fields since hospitals and healthcare facilities are being measured according to outcomes that are linked to these approaches.”
“Being able to give direct input and see that implemented in everyday patient care has given us a sense of empowerment. This is a unique programme and one that will benefit all patients and their loved ones,” Qadeer Ahmed al-Ansari, a member of Enaya’s Patient and Family Advisory Council added.
HMC’s Enaya becomes the first facility in Qatar to achieve certification for excellence in person-centred care.
