HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani opened Saturday the 5th Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare under the theme "System Wide Transformation To Achieve Better Patient Care" at Qatar National Convention Centre.
A documentary film about Hamad Medical Corporation and healthcare in Qatar was displayed at the outset of the opening ceremony.
Then, HE Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari delivered a speech in which she said that the main focus of the forum this year is in line with the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Public Health to develop and strengthen the healthcare sector in Qatar.
HE the Minister highlighted of the quality improvement journey in the healthcare sector in Qatar over the past five years, especially since the first edition of the Forum. "Our shared desire to achieve excellence in healthcare is what unites us all during our work every day, which prompts us to participate in this forum every year, and we must all make the desire for change, improvement and adaptation to developments, and to learn new ways of working and ambition to be the best for our patients, the focus of every work we do," HE Dr. Hanan Al Kuwari said. 
HE the Minister of Public Health shed light on the development and progress that have been achieved in the public healthcare sector since the organization of this forum for the first time five years ago. She said that the Forum this year represents a unique opportunity for the professional development of all healthcare professionals in the region who are motivated by the desire to achieve excellence in patient care.
She stressed that the poster competition for quality improvement projects, which is held within the Forum program, is a further evidence of the real progress being made in the field of improving health care in the GCC region.
She emphasized that investing in human resources is a key factor in the development of healthcare systems and enhancing their ability to deal with the most complex problems. Therefore, this Forum reflects the importance that the leaders of the healthcare sector in Qatar attach to the professional development of the workforce in the healthcare sector.
HE the Minister of Public Health announced the launch of a community survey on Qatar's Public Health Strategy 2017-2022, a first-of-its-kind survey aimed at capturing the views of community members on the most important health issues in Qatar. The data from this survey will be used to support the public health strategy in the State, before the official launch of the strategy later this year.
For her part, president emerita and senior fellow of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the United States Maureen Bisognano said that there is an increased awareness that successful future health systems and healthcare systems are those which all working on simultaneously to achieve common goals of improving the care experience of patients and improving the health of the population while reducing the cost of health care per capita at the same time.

Source: QNA