Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — King Faisal Specialized Hospital and Research Center in collaboration with Houston Methodist Hospital organized a closed session on "Inter-professional Team Development: The Power of Teamwork in Patient Safety" at Park Hyatt Hotel here recently. Dr. Faisal Masoud, professor of clinical anesthesiology at Houston Methodist Global Healthcare Services, said the most important outcome of such a conference is the collaboration between two leading healthcare institutions. The conference aims to increase awareness of the need for providing safe and high quality health care services. "When such an important sector gets this focus from two top institutions like Houston Methodist and KFSH&RC it is a big deal because this resonates for all the other hospitals which would benefit from the experience these two institutions have to share and want to highlight," Masoud said. Hosting the conference in Jeddah with KFSH&RC would turn world attention to what the Saudi health sector is doing in this regard, he said. On the role of team work in patient safety Masoud said: "In healthcare when a patient comes into a hospital, they get a team to take care of them. They are not only treated by one nurse or one doctor. Pharmacy, quality, physical therapy, etc., are also involved in getting the patient better. If the medical team doesn't work well together then the healthcare service provided will be fractured and disorganized, and the person who will get harmed is the patient. "So it's very important that the medical team is on the same page which means if a doctor gives an order the nurses need to know why he gave that order so they can help deliver. Remember in hospitals, doctors do not take care of just one patient, they have many patients to take care of, and so they have to count on their team members to keep them updated on their patients' condition. And that's why team work is so important. The problem sometimes is that team members don't always know when and how to speak out." Clinical collaboration between KFSHRC and Houston Methodist Hospital is going on. KFHSRC's doctors, nurses and pharmacists come and spend time at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston. They are provided with hands on learning and experience which is the best thing for quick learning. In return Houston Methodist Hospital team gets to spend time at KFSHRC facilities in Jeddah and Riyadh to provide local skills and staff with the needed experience and training. On the added value Houston Methodist brings to the Saudi healthcare sector, Masoud said his hospital has developed fellowship programs focused on certain healthcare areas. For example, a critical care specialist fellowship program tailored to KFSH doctors and trainees. "The goal is to reach out to and train Saudi healthcare experts who come to Houston Methodist to expand their knowledge and share their expertise as well as learn from our resident doctors and staff," he said.
