Embrace healthcare outcomes over outputs - Dr Buckle

The Executive Director of the Africa Institute of Healthcare Quality Safety and Accreditation (AfIHQSA), Dr. Gilbert Buckle has tasked the Ministry of Health and healthcare providers to embrace outcomes over outputs.

Dr. Buckle said the healthcare system in Ghana is designed to account for outputs that is, "how many patients did you serve" instead of outcomes which is, "how many lives did you save or gave them customer-seller treatments".

He said unless the Ministry of Health redesign its systems and policies to embrace outcomes and make healthcare practitioners accountable for the outcomes of care, there will be no Quality in Healthcare services in the country.

Dr. Buckle said this in a keynote presentation at the end of a two day Healthcare Quality and Safety summit organized by the Africa Institute of Healthcare Quality, Safety and Accreditation (AfIHQSA) in collaboration with the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), held at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra, from the 17th to 18th of June, 2019.

The summit was on the theme, "Transforming and Navigating Healthcare Quality and Safety into the Future".

The event sought to increase awareness and competencies of participants in basic approaches and methodologies in facilitating the institutionalization of the practices and culture of quality, in Healthcare organizations.