Healthcare professionals get together to improve Quality and Safety of Patient Care

26 Jun 2006

The Ministry of Health will be hosting the inaugural Joint Commission International (JCI) Practicum - Singapore 2006 on 26 June. This is the first time that the training programme is being held outside of the United States. Ms Yong Ying-I, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, will be the Guest-of-Honour and will deliver the keynote address.

The focus of the Practicum, a training programme which would include lectures and onsite visits to accredited hospitals, is on improving the quality and safety of patient care. It provides a good opportunity for our local healthcare professionals to learn in a direct hands-on manner from overseas experts, network and share experiences. While our healthcare professionals have benefited from attending Practicum held overseas, the Singapore Practicum will enable a larger number of our healthcare professionals to benefit from the sharing sessions.

The one week intensive programme (26-30 June), is designed to help healthcare institutions who are seeking JCI accreditation/re-certification to better prepare themselves. Participants will receive training in quality improvement, performance measures, indicators and standards development by international experts.

The programme highlights include sharing sessions by Changi General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital. The three JCI accredited hospitals will be sharing their experiences with about 80 healthcare professionals, including foreign participants. NUH, TTSH and CGH will also be taking part in a mock JCI accreditation survey to benefit from the consultants candid feedback on how they could improve their operations to bring about greater patient quality and safety.

All the 82 places for the Singapore Practicum have been taken up by participants from Singapore, Africa, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Angola, Brunei China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Taiwan