Trust Hospital launches Quality Healthcare Agenda

The Trust Hospital Company Limited has launched its Quality Healthcare Agenda to champion efficient and quality healthcare delivery as it joins the world to commemorate Quality Healthcare Day.

The hospital’s Quality Focal Person, Benjamin Wadie Peprah underscored the importance of the agenda saying the hospital wants a desirable outcome for patients hence working towards attaining quality in every aspect of service delivery.

He added that quality care is what will keep the health sector in business and that sector players must strive for it. He said to fuel the agenda, the hospital has also made available a complaint management system to receive feedback from patients and has conducted staff satisfaction surveys and encouraged continual learning or education among staff in the quest to attain excellence.

“We want to increase accessibility to patients and make decisions based on data. We want to make quality our competitive advantage. Recently, we had about 30 units presenting on quality improvement projects and that is how we are carrying the staff along,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Trust Hospital Company Limited, Dr. Juliana Ameh reassured of the facility’s commitment to providing quality client-focused healthcare services. She reiterated that systems have been put in place and measures are underway to ensure that the hospital does not only meet standards but set a benchmark in the healthcare industry as they work to deliver quality, cost-effective and client-centered services in a safe and serene environment.

“We have put in place a system as an organisation where all units have quality improvement, focal persons. It is a bottom-up approach to drive improvement in services, staff attitude, and outputs and we have indicators to measure what we do.

“The ongoing journey's core principles are leadership, teamwork, client focus, data-driven decisions, and the cultivation of a culture of continuous improvement. These principles are not merely theoretical; they are our new way of life,” she said also noting that her outfit is making progress with its Agenda 2027, a strategic plan expected to give all staff a sense of direction over the next five years.

“We have made commendable strides, but acknowledging our ambition to be counted amongst the best in our industry calls for a shift beyond where we are presently. Therefore, we needed to elevate our game, raising the standards required a deliberate, strategic approach in the quality healthcare improvement agenda, eventually aiming for international accreditation,” she said.

Vice president for Global Delivery at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey commended The Trust Hospital for putting quality at its forefront and changing the status quo, noting that elsewhere, data shows that poor healthcare is responsible for about 50 percent of deaths.

He urged the hospital to include more patient input in its interventions. “Also, link board-level initiatives to what is happening at the front line. The board needs to have greater visibility into what is happening so that they can provide additional support,” he added.

For her part, Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services, Lilian Annan said the hospital is working to achieve the maximum possible reduction in avoidable harm due to unsafe health care and hence will improve adherence to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) patient safety goals.

The goals included correct patient identification; improving effective communication; medication safety practices; ensuring surgical safety for all surgical procedures; control of healthcare-associated infections; and reducing the risk of patient harm due to falls.

By: Nana Appiah Acquaye