This initiative is a tool to measure the level of patient safety in the hospitals. This tool was developed by the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO-EMRO).

Mrs. Huda Al-Katheeri, Acting Director of Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Department at the Ministry of Public Health, presented the certificates of appreciation and Trophies to Mr. Mohammad Khalifa Al-Suwaidi, Director General of Aspetar and CEO of Aspire Zone Foundation.

On this occasion, Mrs.  Al-Katheeri explained that the Ministry of Public Health aims to achieve the highest international standards for the safety and quality of healthcare services delivered to the population of Qatar.  Our vision is to lead the health care quality initiative in Qatar and provide information, education and support to all health care organizations in their quest to provide high quality services to all patients, all the time. Together, we are achieving this vision through our collaboration with local, regional and international organizations in order to implement the latest and safest practices to raise the quality of health care services.

Mrs. Huda thanked Aspetar for the excellent results achieved in this evaluation.  The leaders and the staff of Aspetar showed great commitment, a lot of willingness and intent to benefit from this opportunity and identify areas for improvement. They are genuinely keen to not only be seen as patient safety friendly hospitals but also to operate by this principle in everything they do. She added: "We look forward to continuing to work together in all our efforts on quality of health care and patient safety"

In his welcoming speech, Mr. Mohammad Khalifa Al-Suwaidi said:

“Since opening its doors in 2007, Aspetar has placed patient safety and quality improvement at the top of its agenda. Today’s ceremony is a celebration in recognition of the hard work and commitment that Aspetar and Aspire Zone Foundation staff have put into reaching this milestone. The evidence is very clear that having a well-structured safety programme and a body of staff committed to following strict patient safety protocols result in better patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. We will continue to provide every one of our patients with the best possible healthcare in line with Qatar’s healthcare objectives.”

The tool has 139 standards, which measures the level of compliance of the hospitals to the implementation of the principles, and standards of patient safety, reducing medical errors, improve the healthcare providers’ communication with their patients and families in addition to educating patients and the public around their rights and responsibilities to contribute to their own safety. It is a rigorous assessment process including review of documents related to patient safety followed by observations and visits to various sites as well as interviews with hospital staff and patients to collect further evidence. The results of the assessment are used to develop action plans to improve the performance of the hospital and identify areas for improvement and research, build capacity and raise awareness around the importance of patient safety for the public as well as the healthcare providers.

It is worth noting that the first part of the implementation of this initiative started in the private sector in 2014. The team from the HQPS together with the WHO team assessed one private hospital (Al Emadi) and one semi-government hospital (Aspetar) early this year (2017) where they participated in a volunteer bases .

Moving forward, MOPH will be assessing more hospitals in addition to running training workshops to develop local assessors to help spread the initiative to other hospitals to make best use of the initiative in improving patient safety and quality of healthcare.