Director-General of Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 4th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety, Dr. Abdulelah Al-Hawsawi has extended thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for patronizing the summit scheduled to convene in Jeddah next week, which reflects his constant support for health services and preserving the health and safety of all community members.
During a press conference he held on this occasion, he stressed that the organizing of the conference in the Kingdom highlights the pioneering role played by the Kingdom for supporting patient safety at regional and international levels, pointing out that patient safety is a top priority and a cornerstone for the healthcare services system. The SPSC is one of the initiatives of the health system to improve the healthcare and in implementation of one of the most important initiatives of the National Transformation Program (NTP) in the health sector. It represents a national reference for all matters related to patient safety and to help preventing medical errors and works to develop the national strategy for patient safety and ensuring its harmony with the initiatives of the NTP in the health sector, he adds.
He said, "The summit is one of the most important patient safety initiatives at the international level and the-first-of-its-kind in the region, with the participation of health ministers from 50 countries, WHO Director-General and experts and specialists in safety filed, particularly patient safety".
Al-Hawsawi said that the conference will issue "Jeddah Declaration on Patient Safety", which will focus on supporting patient safety in least developed countries, noting that patient safety will be one of the issues the Kingdom will propose to be added to the agenda of G20 Summit to be hosted by the Kingdom in 2020.
He went on saying that the summit will review a number of scientific topics including patient safety universal healthcare and economic coverage, high reliability organizations (HRO) and patient safety, patient and patient safety empowerment, safety risks and the burden of patient harm to health care, patient safety workforce, developing patient safety policy and digital patient safety.
Al-Hawsawi added that the 4th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety will focus on including patient safety as a key principle in the quest for achieving universal health coverage (UHC), studying high reliability organizations (HRO), introducing safety practices adopted by other industries, promoting valuable healthcare principals as an important tool to improve patient safety, assessing the impact of safety risks and the burden of patient harm on health care, enhancing patient empowerment and engagement of community as an essential factor in improving patient safety. It will also focus on endorsing patient safety related evidence-based structures, practices and processes that are meaningful and adaptable in middle- and low-income countries, as well as promoting strategies for workforce development in health sector and capacity-building to improve patient safety.
He extended his thanks and appreciation to all members of the organizing committee for their efforts and keenness to reflect the Kingdom's image and excellence in organizing such events, hoping that the conference's recommendations will boost the work progress in patient safety and support the efforts and initiatives in this field.