2,600 health professionals pledge to minimise errors, prevent deaths

dubai — A total of 2,600 health professionals have signed a patient safety pledge to eliminate preventable patient deaths.

The healthcare organisations, representing more than 2,600 professionals from Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) signed the pledge (www.dhcr.gov.ae/en/patient-safety-pledge-2019) in partnership with the global non-profit Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) on World Health Day on Sunday.

Through the pledge initiative, supported by the Emirates Medical Association (EMA), the DHCC calls on healthcare organisations and professionals in the free zone, and the wider UAE to commit to patient safety and implement the appropriate Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) developed by PSMF.

Dr Ramadan AlBlooshi, chief regulatory officer at the Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA)

Regulatory, explained that once a healthcare professional takes the digital pledge, the PSMF will get in touch with the professional to encourage him/her to proceed with the PSMF formal commitment on its website: patient safety movement. org; identify patient safety challenges in their clinical environment; and benefit from free, evidence-based Actionable Patient Safety Solutions developed by PSMF. “We are not only improving a culture of safety, we are working towards sustained efforts towards patient safety by encouraging applied best practices,” Dr AlBlooshi said.

Leading healthcare organisations in the DHCC including Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Emirates Specialty Hospital, and Mediclinic City Hospital, signed the pledge. In addition, around 60 professionals took the pledge in the presence of Dr Mouza Al Sharhan, president of the EMA, and senior officials from the DHCA.