Georgian Alliance for Patient Safety GAPS aims at the improvement of health care quality and promotion of safe, patient centered, effective health care for every individual.

1. Patient advocacy
• consideration of patients letters
• Alternative examination of patients complaints
• Campaign to enhance and legalize health ombudsman
2. Infection control
• Infection control manual
• Hand hygiene guideline
3. International Patient Safety Solutions
• “Look Alike Sound Alike Medications”,
• “High Concentration Electrolytes”,
• “Hand Hygiene”.
4. National Patient Safety solutions
• “Peri-operative Antibiotic Therapy -PAP”,
• “Introduction of Spinal/Epidural Analgesia in Obstetrics”,
• “Pathological Examination of Postoperative Tissue”
• “Safe Drug List for Pregnancy/Lactation”
5. Education
• Undergraduate course in patient safety for medical students
• Postgraduate courses for physicians, nurses and managers
6. Information
• website www.gesafety.org
• Series of TV shows
• Printed media stories
7. Publications
• Glossary of Terms Related to Patient and Medication Safety and Best Practices for Preventing Medication Errors and Improving Medication Safety
• The Recommendation Rec (2006)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on management of patient safety and prevention of adverse events in health care.
• “Safe Drug List for Pregnancy/Lactation”
• Look Alike Sound Alike Medications - register
• Medication safety
8. Research
• Safety culture in Georgian hospitals;
• Medication safety
• Claims sensitivity to reflect trends in patient safety;
• Adequacy and ethics in TV stories related to health care
9. Regulations
• Development of final tool for hospitals’ accreditation process
• Legislative initiatives

Personal Information
Date of birth: 20.11.58
Nationality: Georgian
Marital status: Married

Experience
2006 - up today
Steering Committee of the Joint Commission International, Member
2005 - up today
Georgian Alliance for Patient Safety, Head
2004 - up today
Parliament of Georgia, Member
Committee of Healthcare and Social Issues, Deputy Chairman
Alliance of Improved Nutrition for Georgia, Head
1994 – 2004
Sarajishvili Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Medical Director
Main function: Medical management of institute

1997 – 1999
WHO European Regional Bureau - Project Director
Main function: General management
Sphere: Rational drug use and supply

1988 – 1994
British-Soviet Joint Venture “Unipharm” - Medical Consultant

1986 – 1994
Institute of Neurology - Head of Pharmaceutical Section
Main function: Conducting clinical trials

1983 – 1986
Institute of Neurology - Scientific Fellow

1981 – 1983
Institute of Neurology – Resident

Education
1975 -1981 Tbilisi State Medical Institute, Georgia
MD, Excellent degree diploma

Postgraduate Education
2007 - Krakow, Poland - Certificate
Training of Trainers - International Summer Krakow Practicum
on Patient Safety
2006 - Bellajio, Italy
Task Force Meeting in Ethical Issues in Public Health Policy in Post-Soviet Countries
2006 – Prague, Check Republic - Certificate
Training Course - Primary Healthcare System in Check Republic
2002 - Maastricht, Netherlands - Certificate
Training Course - Management of Vertigo
1999 - Copenhagen, Denmark. - Certificate
Training Course - Management of Rational Drug Procurement
1998 - Haifa, Israel – Certificate
International Continuing Education Course - Health Care
Administration and Hospital Management. Technion Institute of
Technology
1997 - Budapest, Hungary
Education Meeting - Hospital Based Management Information Systems
1988 - Kharkov, Ukraine – Diploma
Postgraduate Training Course - Pharmacology of Nervous Diseases
1988 - Tbilisi, Georgia - Diploma
Continuing Education Course - Informational Systems