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Hear from the ACQUIRE Quality Improvement Community of Practice

It is amazing when a dream- long discussed and hoped for meets your reality and exceeds your expectations. This was exactly how the ACQUIRE team has felt in the last few days as we reflect. Last week on the 18th-19th of July 2024 ACQUIRE held its inaugural Quality Improvement Leadership Forum titled: Building Quality Improvement into Africa’s Health System Agenda. The forum was an immense success and we are glad that we were able to put together an event that brought speakers from 9 African countries and had over 600 online attendees over the two days.

The forum allowed different professionals in Healthcare to share their knowledge and experiences in applying Quality Improvement and reducing the gap between what we know and what we do. To say it was phenomenal and eye-opening doesn’t fully express what we believe began there. It was collaborations and networks formed. It was teaching from our lessons and failures- learning to hope and dream and seeing how practical some of the measures we can input in our daily work are. It was beginning to draft a path to the future we see for the African Continent’s Health Systems. It was a Quality Improvement dream come true.

Our first speaker was Ms Lauren De Kock from South Africa who knocked the ball right out of the park by defining the problems we face as the African continent and charting possible paths forward. What does it mean to step out of crisis mode and think about the entirety of the health system? What can we do to solve problems upstream rather than just deal with consequences? She was a refreshing start and her presentation began many organic discussions both in-person and online.

Next was beginning to understand from our formidable panel about the Successes and Challenges in Africa. The countries represented were Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Cameroon. The speakers were Dr. Thomas Gachuki, Division of Quality Assurance, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olabisi Ogunbase, the QI Lead at Lagos State Healthcare, Nigeria, Dr. Tumi Divine, Internal Medicine at Mbingo Baptist Hospital, Cameroon, Dr. Sabelile Tenza, Quality and Safety Researcher at the School of Nursing Science Potchefstroom Campus,South Africa and Dr. Elom Otchi from AfIHQSA, Ghana.


Event Highlights

The forum featured a series of insightful workshops, dynamic discussions, and interactive sessions, all designed to enhance the quality of pediatric healthcare. Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

  1. Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration
    • Participants shared their experiences with QI projects, providing a rich platform for exchanging best practices and innovative solutions.
    • “The presentations gave deep insight into ongoing research work in Quality Improvement as well as practical implementation and successes.
  2. Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement
    • The forum encouraged reflective practice, enabling attendees to critically assess their QI journeys and identify areas for improvement.
  3. Building a Peer Learning Community
    • Strong relationships were formed, creating a supportive network for advice, mentorship, and collaboration.
    • The participants joined the ACQUIRE WhatsApp group and were willing to contribute to a digital newsletter to share learnings.
  4. Highlighting Successful QI Initiatives
    • Successful QI projects were showcased, providing practical examples and inspiration for attendees.
    • Seeing the successes in Hospitals like Kijabe Hospital, Mbagathi County Hospital, and Kenyatta Hospital was insightful for the participants.
  5. Enhancing QI Skills and Knowledge
    • Educational sessions and workshops equipped participants with enhanced skills and knowledge to apply in their own facilities.
  6. Promoting Human-Centered Care
    • The importance of human-centered care was emphasized, with strategies shared for involving patients, healthcare workers and the community in the QI process.
    • “Community Reputation or brand strength is an important part of why patients choose or refuse to attend hospitals. Stories of hospital experiences are told either orally, on social media or written.” emphasized Dr. Benta Omonge

Image Gallery

Check out the gallery above to see moments from the event, including engaging workshops, collaborative discussions, and vibrant networking sessions.

Looking Forward

As we reflect on the success of the ACQUIRE QI Leadership Forum, we are already looking ahead to future opportunities to gather, share, and innovate. Thank you to all who participated and contributed to making this event a phenomenal success. Together, we are driving the future of Quality Improvement in African Healthcare systems toward greater adoption and excellence.

If you missed it and would like to get an overview, HERE is the official conference folder with the presentations and profiles of the speakers. Here are some of the views we received from attendees on the webinar, on Twitter, and in emails. We will be sharing other highlights from the event, but do share what stood out to you in the comments below.

Attendee Feedback

The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many highlighting the value of the collaborative and innovative atmosphere of the forum. Here are a few more testimonials: You can go on Twitter to check the hashtag #ACQUIREhealth for more.

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