<p>Mehwish Hayat, a film actress, model and singer, who has also been conferred with the Tamgha e Imtiaz this year, visited the Children Hospital at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on 28 March, 2019. Hayat is passionate about quality and compassionate healthcare for children as practiced by AKUH.</p><div>Delivery of care at the <a href="/Pakistan/Health-Services/children-hospital/Pages/default.aspx">Children’s Hospital </a>is guided by the principles of compassion and patient centeredness and has worked closely with the <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org.pk/">“Charter for Compassion”</a> which was founded by renowned scholar, author and thought leader on compassion, Karen Armstrong. The Children’s Hospital shared with Hayat their best practice of compassion in care and also introduced them to the staff members who have been receiving specialized training for the same. Programmes within the Children’s Hospital, such as the Nurse Mentorship Programme, have not only significantly improved patient experience, but are also empowering the healthcare providers at the Children’s Hospital. </div><div>
</div><div>“Compassion in healthcare really speeds up the healing process and here at the Aga Khan University Hospital, we train and teach our Pediatricians, Nurses and Staff on how to deliver compassionate care based on the 9 principles of the Charter of Compassion including: empathy, mindfulness, humility and forgiveness,” says Dr. Babar Hasan, Service Line Chief, Children’s Hospital, AKUH. “Hence, when you demonstrate self-compassion you will most certainly take care of the people in your surroundings.”</div><div>
</div><div>The AKUH doctors, nurses and staff members hold the values of compassion close to heart to provide high quality patient centred care. They are there to assist the patients and their families, not only during their visit and stay at AKUH but also, post discharge.</div><div>
</div><div>“Mehwish Hayat coming in and spending so much time with the patients and their families truly adds to our vision of bringing back positivity and happiness to the patients,” says Amin Hashwani, Founder, Charter for Compassion. “In the future, we wish to welcome many more known figures in our society to help spread compassion and cheer in the hospital.”</div><div>
</div><div>During her visit, Hayat saw different programmes AKUH is running at the Children’s Hospital and she was also introduced to the innovative tactics used by AKUH such as live patient data collection to provide the best possible healthcare to its patients. She spent time with children gave them balloons and party hats. </div><div>
</div><div>“The Children’s Hospital at the Aga Khan University Hospital is not just working on medication but is also working on the healing process which is very important. I was so happy to see that all the children were happy to be in a hospital setting because the staff was engaging them in different activities like drawing, playing games and watching TV,” says Mehwish Hayat, the actress and singer who has recently been awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz </div><div>
</div><div>The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) is a not-for-profit, private healthcare network with a quartenary care hospital, 4 secondary care hospitals, over 25 Medical Centres, and over 260 Clinical Laboratories in over 115 cities across Pakistan. It also has a network of pharmacies and offers home healthcare services. AKUH is Pakistan’s first Joint Commission International accredited hospital which is the gold standard in quality and patient safety. Its clinical laboratories are accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for fast and accurate lab testing.</div><div>
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