(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- The Royal Hospital has won the GCC Patient Experience Eminence Award for initiating multiple projects to improve performance in patient-centred care. The award was presented to the hospital during the 2nd Annual GCC Patient Experience Summit held recently in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
According to Dr Qassem al Salmi, director general of The Royal Hospital, it started a programme in 2017 to improve performance by training 32 of its multidisciplinary employees on LEAN methodologies conducted by a consultant from the United States. Starting continuous performance improvement programmes led to the initiation of more than 180 projects across multiple clinical and support departments. Many innovative projects and initiatives aimed at different aspects of patient experience have been taken up, including application of an appointment system at most of the national centres of the hospital to reduce waiting time as well as cancellation rates of surgical appointments.
Health services are evolving and expectations of patients are changing simultaneously. Dr Ismail al Rashdi, director of quality and patient safety at the hospital, said that the requirements of multiple stakeholders have necessitated healthcare providers to understand what the patient wants and respond spontaneously to current trends. Earlier the hospital sought to provide the best healthcare service to its patients, but now it is endeavouring to provide the best services to patients while they have the best experience even as they receive excellent healthcare services. In order to achieve this, health institutions must change the patient's definition of vision and mission. The hospital realises a patient is not only a service recipient but also a 'client' who must be provided with what he wants during his healthcare experience.
LEAN methodologies to improve performance were adopted in various departments, including the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Radiation Oncology Department at the National Oncology Centre, Department of Nuclear Medicine and the National Heart Centre.
Dr Iman Nasr, consultant of immunology and allergy, said there was performance improvement in the day-care ward of The Royal Hospital using the LEAN principles contributing to an increase in the number of patients seen by 20 per cent and reducing waiting time.
The hospital opened many channels of communication with patients and the community - both written and oral channels - through the staff of the Patient Services Department, electronic communication and social media to improve patient experience.
Through these rapid development efforts, The Royal Hospital has become one of Oman's leading hospitals and one that takes patient experience as an important parameter of its care services. The hospital will continue to work towards greater horizons, and better services to improve patient experience.
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