Sir Liam Donaldson, Chairman of the World Alliance for Patient Safety, is conducting a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting on Saturday, June 4th, 2011. The aim of his visit is to discuss means to further develop cooperation in various fields of patient safety at the national, Gulf, regional and global levels. The Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia is playing a leading role in this field with the help of development programs initiated by His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rabeeah.
The visit schedule includes a full workday at the Ministry of Health, as well as a review of the achievements of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, one of the most distinguished Saudi medical facilities. KFSH has reached many landmark accomplishments in various fields, especially in the areas of healthcare quality, patient safety, medication monitoring, electronic medical error identification, patient safety policies and procedures and the Medical Risk Management Unit.
The Chairman will also visit National Guard’s King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh to view areas of excellence specific to the City, such medication-monitoring procedures, medication error prevention and medical error reduction. He will also review the role of health services in the National Guard, as well as policies and procedures for patient safety and combating infection through the GCC Center for Infection Control. The activities of the Saudi Scientific Society for performance quality and risk management in health facilities will also be introduced.
A visit to the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh is also on the agenda; the Chairman will view KFMC’s Patient Safety Center and see firsthand the center’s methods for identifying and reducing medical errors and study policies and procedures for patient safety and combating infection.
This visit falls within the framework of cooperation between the the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the Executive Office of the GCC Council of Ministers of Health along with health sector officials in the Kingdom. This cooperation is due to direct guidance from His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, and stems from the common concern of the patient safety guidance and survey about the possibility of special arrangements needed to establish a collaborative resource center focused on capacity-building.
The World Health Organization established the World Alliance for Patient Safety in 2004 to raise awareness and political commitment to improving healthcare safety and setting policies and practices for patient safety in all of the Member States. Each year, the Alliance organizes programs related to the systems and techniques needed to improve patient safety around the world. In addition, once every two years the Alliance sets a challenge to stimulate commitment and action; the first challenge was in 2005 under the theme: "Clean Care is Safer Care." The second challenge, “Safe Surgery Saves Lives,” was in 2007. The third world challenge currently addressing the subject of patient safety is “Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance.”
The Alliance’s objectives are to empower and involve patients, to develop a classification system for patient safety, to conduct research in the field of patient safety, to find solutions to reduce healthcare risks, and to improve education to enhance patient safety.