The Chief Executive Officer of The Trust Hospital Company Limited, Dr. Juliana Ameh, has reiterated his outfit’s commitment to providing quality client-focused healthcare services.
She said the healthcare provider is constantly seeking innovative strategies to not only meet the ever-changing needs of patients but set a benchmark in the healthcare industry.
Dr. Ameh was speaking at the launch of the hospital’s Quality Healthcare Agenda, which aims to champion efficient and quality healthcare delivery. The launch forms part of activities marking Quality Healthcare Day.
“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.
She further noted 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.
Presenting on The Trust Hospital’s quality journey, Quality Focal Person, Benjamin Wadie Peprah, underscored the importance of the agenda, saying the hospital wants a desirable outcome for the patients and as a brand.
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.
“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.
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 inputs 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, hence will improve adherence to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) patient safety goals.
The goals include 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.
