Under the high patronage of the Ministry of Health in Lebanon and in collaboration with the USJ Higher Institute of Public Health (ISSP), the Lebanese Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (LSQSH) launched its 6th annual congress entitled “Teaming up for Safer Care” on Friday October 5th and Saturday October 6th, 2018, at the Campus of Medical Sciences.

In 2012, the LSQSH announced its mission, vision, and values, and committed itself to promoting patient safety and improving the quality of care in Lebanon. Since then, the company has undertaken several projects in this domain and has achieved certain goals. Following its 2016-2017 “Stay Safe” campaign which was run in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) under the leadership of the company’s President Dr. Rouba Rassi El Khoury and which targeted the general public and health professionals, the LSQSH is offering a series of high level conferences and workshops this year, with renowned speakers and international experts. “Team STEPPS: Train the Trainer” is an example of these workshops; its goal is to teach teamwork tools for patient safety, and it is led by Swiss experts. Another example is “Patient Tracer Methodology”, led by Dr Atéchian.

Professor Thierry Philip, President of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) and President of the Institut Curie (France), was the exceptional guest at this year’s congress, presenting “Quality Challenges in Oncology” during a session dedicated to oncology.

Dr. Michèle Kosremelli Asmar, Director of the Higher Institute of Public Health (ISSP), said in her opening speech that “quality and safety are the core values of health professions, and the classic principles of not harming and life-saving are as old as the professions themselves. Quality and safety represent two sides of the same coin: they are key elements for establishing accessible and effective health care systems that meet the population’s needs. They are recognized today as a major concern of public health.” She added that commitment to quality and safety requires multifaceted and multi-level interventions to ensure that improvement efforts are fully realized and sustainable.

As for the university’s Rector, Rev. Salim Daccache s.j., he stressed that securing quality care and safe treatment rooms is not a one-person job; it requires a team of professionals including maintenance personnel, nurses, pharmacists, controllers, doctors, and technicians. He also emphasized the need of a joint effort to improve  healthcare delivery quality and safety standards in Lebanon, for patients’ sake and for the good reputation of Lebanese hospital institutions.