Myself, and several members of the ISQua Board (Shin Ushiro, Jeffrey Braithwaite, Cliff Hughes, David Vaughan and Steve Clark, via video link) had the privilege of speaking and chairing sessions at the Quality in Healthcare Summit held on Friday, 22nd March in Dublin, organized by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and supported by ISQua. Over 150 registrants attended including clinicians and other healthcare leaders from Dublin and the surrounding area.
Sunday, 24th March was comprised of meetings of the ISQua Board sub-committees and advisory committees. These were followed by a meeting of the Board of the new ISQua External Evaluation Association (IEEA). Progress in the establishment of the IEEA in Geneva is moving along well. The IEEA is the association through which our International Accreditation Programme (IAP) is delivered.
Monday, 25th March was the professional development day retreat for the Board – a time for the Board to further examine and reflect on how we work together, to improve our governance effectiveness for ISQua, in order to enable achievement of the mission & strategy. This session built upon the Board retreat held in March 2018 after which much positive governance and meeting logistics changes were initiated. With the assistance of a facilitator, we had a very meaningful day. An action plan is being developed to ensure that the ideas and suggested initiatives are captured and actioned (e.g. improvement to Board orientation/onboarding and identifying critical topics for future deep dive Board discussions).
Our Board meeting on 26th March began with Sara Yaron, our Honorary Advisor for Person Centred Care, sharing her personal patient story. This helped us reiterate our strong commitment (individually, collectively and as an organization) to improving quality and safety globally, and that a commitment to risk reduction, must be foremost. Thank you, Sara.
After that, the day was comprised of Board business including updates on progress with the 2018-2020 strategy, the appointment of new Experts, the financial status, the upcoming Board election process, the new awards policy and our Journal.
The ISQua staff provided the Board with a brilliant presentation ‘from strategy to implementation’. Their work in this regard will be increasingly evident in our marketing and messaging over the upcoming year. Our Board meeting concluded with an update on strategic partnerships, knowledge management, the North American strategy, and regions/LMIC.
A sincere thank you was extended to Peter Lachman and all of the ISQua staff for their tireless and ongoing commitment that is the foundation of our success. On your behalf, the Board formally acknowledged the staff and the quality of their work.
I also wish to acknowledge the commitment of time and expertise of all of the Board members and Honorary Advisors. This Board is extremely hard working and willingly gives of their expertise and energy – at almost any time of day or night and any day of the week. Coordinating work with an international Board brings challenges, challenges which this Board embraces with enthusiasm.
It is an honour to be President and work with such an impressive and caring group of professionals.