Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) recently organised a workshop to raise awareness about informed consent policy among health care providers and health practitioners. The event focused on ways providers could help empower their clients by assisting and encouraging them to take informed decisions on their treatment options.
The policy, aimed at encouraging patients to make decisions on treatment options, is based on rights and responsibilities of the patient. One of the patients’ fundamental right, as per the “Patients’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities”, patients should participate in their treatment plan.
The three-day workshop brought in more than 150 experts from various healthcare facilities here. The workshop included presentations on the importance of informed consent, which is one of the rights enshrined in the charter of rights and duties enforced in Qatar since 2015 and adopted by the standing committee of the licenses.
Workshop also highlighted statistics issued by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) on complaints received on the failure to obtain the consent of the patient when providing medical care. Samples of approvals used by some health care facilities in the state were also displayed.
The representatives of the department of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at MoPH showed a draft of informed consent policies. The workshop also included discussions, took into account views and suggestion from the participants.
