The Quality Agenda at Aga Khan University Hospital

This week, the World marks Quality Week for 2021. This is the time of the year when we celebrate Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). Themed, “quality's role in sustainability and its environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact", this year's celebrations focus on ESG which has become a priority business agenda.

ESG includes government policy, regulation, customers and their attitudes, investor attitudes and requirements and pressure group activity and influence.

Sustainability is not only an area that Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) considers core but remains committed to building into its culture. AKUH has embedded quality into the strategic direction of the hospital to ensure it defines all operations. As a leading healthcare service provider in the region, AKUH commits to offering the best quality to stakeholders and clients that patronize her services.

CQI in its simplest form is doing something the best way the first time and doing it better subsequently, then monitoring the impact of those actions and continually improving on them. That underscores the need to set achievable and precise objectives operationalized through clear policies, guidelines, pathways, procedures, and work instructions. CQI aims to achieve the best way of task execution as a lifestyle and as part of the organizational culture.

In the last couple of years, healthcare services have experienced a sharp increase in demand while the shortage of licensed healthcare professionals has remained one of the toughest challenges that healthcare providers face. Illness has become more complex while advancements in technology and research have expedited the rise of modern and more effective diagnoses and treatment techniques. This advancement in technologies has assisted to improve the quality of health services offered to our patients. AKUH continues to leverage technology, education and research to position herself as the premier healthcare provider in sub-Saharan Africa.

At AKUH, enduring quality is progressively built on the nine dimensions of quality namely: Technical Performance, Access to care, Effectiveness, Interpersonal Relationships, Choice, Efficiency, Continuity, Safety and Amenities.  This resonates well with the institutional core values of Impact, Quality, Relevance and Access.

The patient remains at the centre of the quality agenda. AKUH prioritizes patient engagement and involvement in all aspects of her operations. Continuous attention to the voice of the patient is the most important driver to building safe and high-quality service. Deliberate investment in superior facilities, equipment, management processes and human resource enables the organization to deliver sustainable quality and safe healthcare.

The quest for quality is benchmarked against global best practices. This is evident in the multiple accreditation and certifications AKUH has earned and continues to strive for. These include; ISO 9001:2015, College of American Pathologists (CAP), South African National Accreditation Service (SANAS), Clinical Care Program Certification (CCPC) in Acute Primary Stroke and Acute Myocardial Infarction and Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation and Clinical Care Program Certification (CCPC) for stroke.

 As we mark this year's World Quality week, we are aggressively pursuing re-accreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI) in 2022, to ensure the continued delivery of Quality care.

The real support behind the quality agenda at AKUH is the close-knit team of management, faculty and staff and independent practitioners.

Have the best World International Quality Week.

By Emily Omari and Teresiah Jitwa, Quality Advisors