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- First Hospital in the Middle East to Sign as Member
Doha, Qatar - Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) announced today that it has joined the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative (GTC). There are currently 40 hospitals worldwide as part of the collaborative; Sidra is leading the way as the first hospital in the Middle East to sign up as a member.
The GTC is a non-profit organization where multi-disciplinary teams of healthcare professionals from around the world, collaborate and share knowledge to improve the quality of care for patients with a tracheostomy - an incision in the windpipe made to relieve obstructions to breathing. Sidra's membership is being led by Dr. Patrick Sheehan, Division Chief for Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery.
"We are designing a quality of care and service that will feature evidence-based best practice methodologies from around the world. By joining the GTC, this is an opportunity for Sidra to get our tracheostomy care ready for the highest levels of practice. Our tracheostomy care team involves staff from nursing, speech and language therapy, education, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). They have many years of excellent experience from renowned institutions and together we are committed to offering the best holistic care possible," said Dr. Patrick Sheehan, Division Chief of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery at Sidra.
As a member of the GTC, Sidra's tracheostomy care team will have access to learning resources, case studies and a global database with information from member hospitals about the care of children who have tracheostomies. The database highlights practices that provide better outcomes for tracheostomy patients - allowing members to consider adapting or customizing them within their own healthcare settings. This will ultimately improve patient care and prevent possible problems or even fatalities. All data sharing is anonymized and patient confidentiality is not compromised.
"Tracheostomy care is not always perfect in hospitals and adverse events can happen - often due to human error. Simple interventions can make a big difference. The GTC was set up so that hospitals can work together to deliver and benchmark themselves to provide the best possible care. For example, if one hospital has a lower fatality rate and better success with managing the care of tracheostomy patients, other members can see what they are doing to incorporate this best practice into their hospital," continued Dr. Sheehan.
The formal launch of Sidra's GTC membership will be showcased at the International Society for Quality in Health (ISQua) conference in Doha from the 4th to the 7th of October 2015. Dr. Sheehan will be leading a team from Sidra at a breakout session on the opening day of the conference. The tracheostomy care and simulation team from Sidra will also separately showcase simulation scenarios of a patient with a tracheostomy that has had a tube displaced or blocked and how medical staff should react and manage the situation.
Dr. David Roberson, President and Founder of the GTC will also be giving a keynote talk at ISQua 2015. Current GTC members will be available to talk to those interested in joining the collaborative. The ultimate aim is to encourage other MENA institutions to become part of the GTC to widen the network of experts, and case study access.
"It is through collaboration, team care and knowledge sharing that tracheostomy related adverse events can be radically reduced - as demonstrated by several leaders in our collaborative. We are partnering with hospitals around the world to help spread these innovative care models. Dr. Sheehan and Sidra Medical Center are taking a very visionary path to join in the very first group of hospitals worldwide and we are very pleased to have Sidra on board. We're also thrilled that Dr. Sheehan has coordinated presentations about GTC at the ISQua meeting. The expertise and knowledge of the Sidra tracheostomy team, led by Dr. Sheehan will serve as a benchmark in the region and beyond. We would like to encourage other hospitals in the Middle East to become partners in improving the treatment and care of tracheostomy patients worldwide," said Dr. David Roberson, GTC Founder and President and Otolaryngologist at Harvard Medical School.
"Technology has enabled us to pass on our best practices from around the world which can be disseminated and accessed more easily than ever before. Being a member will allow us to tailor GTC resources and develop strategies that can be aligned with our requirements here in the Middle East. It will also show any practices that are not working and need changing or updating. It is then the duty of all institutions to change these practices for the better. We all know that if we benchmark ourselves against
Other institutions, our outcomes always improve. The more information we have; the better care we can offer our patients," concluded Dr. Sheehan.
Dr. Sheehan and the Sidra tracheostomy care team are planning to host a 'Pediatric Tracheotomy Care' training workshop in February 2016 which will be accredited by Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar. This will be an inter-disciplinary team workshop with talks from Sidra speakers on multi-disciplinary tracheostomy care and simulation workshops for surgeons, nurses and allied health personnel. More details on this will follow later in the year.
-Ends-
Notes to the Editor:
To find out more and to register for ISQua 2015 please visit: www.isqua.org/Events/doha-2015
For more information about the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative, please visit http://globaltrach.org/
Attachments:
1 Corporate Image of Dr. Patrick Sheehan, Division Chief of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery at Sidra.
2 Picture of a young gentleman with a trach.
3 Picture of Erin Ward with her family and son with a trach. Erin Ward is part of the Board of Directors for the GTC.
About Sidra Medical and Research Center
Sidra Medical and Research Center, currently under construction in Doha, Qatar, will be a groundbreaking hospital, research and education institution, focusing on the health and wellbeing of children and women regionally and globally. Sidra will be a fully digital facility, incorporating the most advanced information technology applications in clinical, research and business functions. Sidra will initially have 400 beds with infrastructure to enable expansion to 550 beds in a subsequent phase.
Sidra represents the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser who serves as its Chairperson. The high-tech facility will not only provide world-class patient care but will also help build Qatar's scientific expertise and resources.
Sidra is part of a dynamic research and education environment in Qatar that includes leading international institutions, such as Sidra's academic partner Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Through strong partnerships with leading institutions around the world, Sidra is creating an intellectual ecosystem to help advance scientific discovery through investment in medical research.
Sidra will have a unique working structure with inter-professional collaboration at the heart, providing the best holistic care for patients and an unparalleled learning environment for its medical professionals. Sidra will combine the best in design, technology, operations and practices from medical centers around the world - to offer its employees an environment that is at once familiar and extraordinary.
For more information please contact:
Farhana Habib-Coelho
Communications Department
Sidra Medical and Research Center
Email: fcoelho@sidra.org
Tel: +(974) 4404-2176
© Press Release 2015
