Health Systems Approach to Ensure Quality and Safety Amid COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan.

Ensuring quality and safe care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic offers a challenge to already strained health systems in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Pakistan with less shock-absorbing capacities. There is a dearth of evidence on mechanisms to provide optimum quality care to COVID-19 patients in the resource-constrained healthcare environment. The lessons learned from the Ebola virus outbreak for the deficient health systems and quality improvement are considered to propose strengthening the health systems response to deliver quality-assured care to patients during the current pandemic. In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) health systems framework can serve as a guiding principle towards providing quality-assured and safe healthcare services during the ongoing pandemic in Pakistan by ensuring the availability of an adequate workforce, medical supplies and equipment, strong governance, active information system, and adequate health financing to effectively manage COVID-19. Research evidence is needed to be better prepared for an effective and coordinated health systems response to offer quality and safe care to patients. Key Words: Health systems approach, COVID-19 pandemic, Quality of healthcare, Safe care.

Health Systems Approach to Ensure Quality and Safety Amid COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan.

Ensuring quality and safe care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic offers a challenge to already strained health systems in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Pakistan with less shock-absorbing capacities. There is a dearth of evidence on mechanisms to provide optimum quality care to COVID-19 patients in the resource-constrained healthcare environment. The lessons learned from the Ebola virus outbreak for the deficient health systems and quality improvement are considered to propose strengthening the health systems response to deliver quality-assured care to patients during the current pandemic. In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) health systems framework can serve as a guiding principle towards providing quality-assured and safe healthcare services during the ongoing pandemic in Pakistan by ensuring the availability of an adequate workforce, medical supplies and equipment, strong governance, active information system, and adequate health financing to effectively manage COVID-19. Research evidence is needed to be better prepared for an effective and coordinated health systems response to offer quality and safe care to patients. Key Words: Health systems approach, COVID-19 pandemic, Quality of healthcare, Safe care.

The role of patients: Perspectives from a large, not-for-profit, tertiary care teaching hospital in the developing world.

Recent literature and studies show the significant role that patients and families can play during their transition through different points along the continuum of care. To date, our observation is that in our environment, patients and families input and engagement in the health care process has remained passive, with most of the decisions related to patient care being reserved for health care providers. Health care in many parts of the developing world still faces a similar challenge. This paper presents the initiatives of a large, not-for-profit, tertiary care teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, on planning and implementing some best evidence-based practices in re-shaping the role of patients and families with the goal of enhancing the quality of their care. It also points out the effect of local cultures in making the role of the patient and family in their care as beneficial as it can be to improve clinical outcomes and their quality of life. Additionally, factors such as literacy, education, socioeconomic class and the attitude of health care providers in underdeveloped countries requires a significant change for the effective involvement of patients in their own care.