The first meeting of the project was heldEgyptian Excellence in Health Care

Health care has become one of the basic pillars for achieving theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the third goal related to ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at different ages. In light of the rapid transformations taking place in health systems globally, improving patient experience has become one of the strategic priorities that countries seek to establish.

From this standpoint, Egypt is moving to adopt modern models of patient-centered health care, by strengthening international partnerships, exchanging experiences, and building the capabilities of medical personnel, in a way that supports the development of the health system and brings it closer to achieving comprehensive health coverage according to a more sustainable development vision. This is what we highlight in the following lines: So keep reading.

Egyptian cooperationJapanese for health care development

Within the framework of ongoing efforts to develop the quality of health services in Egypt, and to promote the principles of comprehensive health insurance; Dr. Ahmed Al-Sabki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Health Care, chaired the first meeting of the joint coordination committee for the project “Egyptian Excellence in Patient-Centered Healthcare – From Standards to Application (E-PaCC S2P)”.

This was in the presence of a number of health leaders and representatives of relevant institutions, including Dr. Ahmed Taha, “President of the General Authority for Health Accreditation and Control,” and Mr. Yu Ebisawa, “the main representative of the JICA office” in Egypt, in addition to representatives of the Japanese Embassy, university hospitals, the private sector, and the Secretariat of Specialized Medical Centers.

During this meeting, the parties signed the final project design matrix (PDM) between the General Health Care Authority and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, defining the executive framework for the project and its future steps, in addition to confirming the institutional commitment to unify efforts among all national and international partners.

Establishing patient-centered care

There, Dr. Ahmed Al-Sobky confirmed that the Egyptian Excellence in Patient-Centered Health Care Project represents an advanced stage of international cooperation in the health sector, as it focuses on transferring modern Japanese systems and localizing specialized expertise to support the sustainability of the development of health services.

He also explained that the project targets training and technical support, and seeks to bring about systematic reform in the way health care is provided, so that the patient becomes the focus of the medical process and an essential reference in designing health services and making therapeutic decisions.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Sabki also indicated that the project is based on the twinning model with Japanese hospitals, and includes training programs for health personnel, sending educational missions, in addition to implementing modern mechanisms; In order to improve the patient experience within hospitals.

 22Hospital within the first phase

The project aims to apply patient-centered health care concepts in22 hospitals from various health sectors, including hospitals affiliated with the General Authority for Health Care, others affiliated with the Secretariat of Specialized Medical Centers, in addition to university and private hospitals.

The first phase of the project began in six hospitals affiliated with the Authority within the governorates of the first phase of the comprehensive health insurance system, where work plans were prepared, specialized technical teams were formed, and then training workshops were organized on mechanisms for implementing patient-centered care.

Health personnel training

The project’s executive activities included training30 health staff on applying the “Patient Journey Dialogue” mechanism, in addition to training29 specialists on using clinical pathways to improve quality Medical services.

The first phase also witnessed the implementation of ten practical cases of the patient journey dialogue, and the conduct of supervisory visits to follow up on the application within hospitals, in addition to the implementation of a basic survey to evaluate the patient experience and patient safety culture within health facilities.

Supporting health quality standards

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Taha, “President of the General Authority for Health Accreditation and Regulation” (GAHAR), explained that the project represents an extension of the state’s efforts to establish quality standards within the health sector, stressing that the application of patient-centered care contributes to providing safer and more humane health services, and enhances citizens’ confidence in the health system.

The head of the General Authority for Health Accreditation and Supervision indicated that the participation of health facilities from the government, university and private sectors reflects a trend towards the integration of health services, pointing out that the standards of the General Authority for Health Accreditation and Supervision place the patient experience at the forefront of performance measurement indicators.

JICA Model of International Cooperation

In the same context, the representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency in Egypt confirmed that the agency views the “Egyptian Excellence Project in Patient-Centered Health Care” as a pioneering model for international cooperation based on the exchange of experiences and building institutional capabilities.

He explained that cooperation with Egypt in the health sector has yielded positive results over the past years, noting that the new project will work to expand the scope of application of quality improvement tools in a larger number of hospitals. In order to ensure the sustainability of health services development.

Towards a more efficient and sustainable patient experience

The meeting concluded by emphasizing the importance of continuing training programs and workshops during the coming stages, while expanding the scope of application of quality improvement tools in more hospitals until 2028, thus enhancing the health system’s ability to provide sustainable services in line with the goals of comprehensive health reform.

In light of the above, it is clear that the “Egyptian Excellence in Patient-Centered Health Care” project reflects a deeper shift in the philosophy of managing the health system in Egypt. Because the trend towards making the patient the focus of the health service provision process reformulates the relationship between the medical institution and the service recipient, and establishes a more humane and efficient model at the same time.

The Egyptian-Japanese partnership in this field also reveals the importance of international cooperation in transferring medical expertise, which allows building national capabilities capable of leading the health development process in a sustainable manner. Therefore,The Earth Guards Foundation believes that the success of this project is measured by its ability to bring about a real change in the culture of health care itself. So that the patient’s experience and quality of life become an integral part of health performance standards, which is ultimately consistent with the vision of sustainable development.