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Dear Colleagues, Another Spring Workshop, another year passing. And I’m happy to say that when I think of ESQH, it is no longer just in terms of who we are, and what we stand for, but rather what we have begun to do. This Newsletter, this Network Conference, are all about what ESQH is doing. And all our various actions share one thing in common; they seek to utilise the wealth of talent and expertise that is present throughout this continent of ours, present in the many National Societies that we proudly call our Members. ESQH does not seek to be yet another Society promoting Quality in Healthcare, competing for scarce resources and opportunities. We seek to represent the best that the National Societies have to offer, and in return promise each Society easy and fruitful access to each other, and to Europe. And that is why we have called this Workshop the ‘Network Conference.’ The purpose of the Conference is to bring together representatives of as many of the Societies as is possible. While in Seville there will be opportunities for each Member to reflect upon the ESQH Vision, viewing its principles and actions in relation to the workings of their own Society. Also, we will have a morning devoted to examining how best ESQH might ‘develop effective exchange of information across geographic and cultural diversity." This is no small matter, considering the thousands of miles and many millions of people within the Member countries of ESQH. And Seville will provide a real opportunity for our Members to engage with the policy platforms on which we shall build over the coming years. Our Training & Education, and Indicators and Outcomes Portfolios are well under way. Others are just beginning. Either way, this Network Conference will allow each participant to become more involved in the project of their choice. While in Seville, we shall be joined by colleagues from WHO-Europe, EOQ, EuroQuan and EFQM, and I’d like to extend a warm welcome to our guests from these fellow organisations. I am delighted to be able to welcome a new Member to ESQH, the 18th Society to join. At our Autumn Workshop in Brussels our Council approved the membership of Luxembourg, represented by CIPIQ-S. The President of the Society is Dr Marie-Lise Lair, and we look forward to working with Marie-Lise and her colleagues from Luxembourg in the future.
As you all know, the costs of running (and attending) conferences are high, so I am especially grateful to Mr F Reddering and the Dutch firm MediRisk for their generous contribution towards the financing of this Network Conference. And Finally… I hope you will find that the Network Conference proves a major step in forging closer links between your Society and your fellow members . I also trust that you will enjoy the beautiful and ancient city of Sevilla.
ESQH & Brussels: Project Manager’s Report by Benno van Beek As the manager of the Brussels office for ESQH it’s my job to link the Member National Societies with possible funding from Europe. A condition to get any funding from the EC is that proposals must be submitted by international consortiums. ESQH is providing a platform whereby international partners can be found. After a first meeting with DGSANCO in 2001 I was asked to send a number of draft proposals to the Directorate that would assist them in discussions within the EC about the 6th Framework Programme. The drafts were very well received, but were and still are no guarantee for funding, but it did show to the EC that we can deliver when we are asked to. Here are a number of things the Brussels office is involved in/looks after. Discussion with DGSANCO At the ESQH Brussels Workshop last November we were joined by two speakers from the European Commission, Michael Hübel (DG Health and Consumer protection) and Petra Wilson (DG Information Society). Both outlined their policies and possibilities for European funding to the audience. Michael Hübel spoke about the new Action programme on public health which focuses on three areas, of which the first strand; improving health information would appear to be the best opportunity for our network. (The Action programme is, at the moment (May 2002), still being debated between the European Parliament (EP) and the European Council (EC). An initial result of the Commission’s attendance at the Brussels Workshop was a meeting where Michael Hübel and his colleagues met with Marius Buiting, David Somekh and I. Together we have agreed to organise a brainstorm on the topic of quality in healthcare. Preparations are ongoing and on May 27 we’ll have a full day with the people at DGSANCO and a delegation of ESQH-representatives. Education & Training In January 2002 Agnès Jacquery suggested a project proposal for partial funding in the Leonardo da Vinci programme from DG Education & Culture. After the agreement of seven partners (universities, research institutes and ESQH) in the consortium to take part in the programme the Free University of Brussels decided at the last moment to pull out because of financial difficulties in other programmes that were already running. A big disappointment of course, but because the commitment was there from all the other partners it was decided not to abandon the project altogether, and recent developments will be shown in the workshop in Seville. Initial contact Council of Europe (CoE) In March an initial contact was made with Piotr Mierzewski of the Council in Strasbourg, (Directorate of Social Affairs, Health Policy Division). The possibility of future cooperation between ESQH and the CoE was discussed. It was pointed out to us that the only way in which the CoE can support a society is always through the national government, therefore it’s vital for a society to have a good contact with their Ministry of Health. Also, any projects or conferences applying for funding would naturally have relevance for CoE policies. To promote CoE policies, it was agreed that an effort shall be made to see if the Recommendation Rec (2001)13 on developing a methodology for drawing up guidelines on best medical practices, as approved by the Committee of Ministers on October 10, 2001 can be promoted in the ISQua conference in Paris, in November 2002. Initial contact DG Employment & Social Affairs Early December last year at a conference in Leuven, Belgium, the European Commission published a Communication on "The future of health care and care for the elderly: guaranteeing accessibility, quality and financial viability". This was actually presented by the DG Social Employment & Social Affairs, rather than DGSANCO. A first discussion has taken place with Denis Crowley, involved in social inclusion policies and with the follow up of this Communication. As you read this a second meeting has taken place between ESQH and him about possible involvement of ESQH in preparing a questionnaire on quality matters to be sent to the Member States. ESQH & European Organisation for Quality (EOQ) As a lot of quality thinking in healthcare was originally produced in industry (the EFQM model for instance) ESQH has a good link with the European Organisation for Quality as we share an office with them in Brussels. Last year EOQ organised a Summercamp in Versailles on breakthrough management for some 50 quality experts from all over the world, including Japan and the United States. For the first time a number of experts from healthcare participated and introduced there the concept of ‘simple rules’. The Summercamp turned out to be an excellent place for exchange of ideas and future cooperation. This year’s Summercamp will take place in Gothenburg and again a number of healthcare experts will take part. EOQ is also organising a big quality congress in Harrogate from 29 September – 2 October where there will be a full day on quality matters in the healthcare arena. You can find out more about it on http://www.iqa.org/Q2002/. Another activity where we are cooperating with EOQ is the 2003 world conference in The Hague on the Social Dimensions of Organisational Excellence. Find out more about it on http://www.eoq2003.nl As the Summercamp idea turns out to be an excellent breeding ground for contacts and cooperation ESQH is in the process of setting up a Summercamp on leadership in healthcare. Centre CEN The international Standardisation organisation CEN is also located in Brussels and in October I had a first meeting with a number people in CEN to discuss a background paper to produce an application document to support the use of ISO 9000 quality system standards in healthcare. Matti Liukko, the president of the Finnish society, chairs the international group that had prepared the document. During the November Workshop a second meeting was held between ESQH and CEN and a number people who had produced the paper. CEN consequently started the formal process of inviting opinions from their national standardisation agencies about the issue. The majority of national bodies voted in favour of the project and mid May CEN will publish their opinion. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) Another possibility of future funding for projects is FP6, especially in the area of research and development of indicators and health outcomes. Preparatory work is done by the EDOE group within the ESQH network. Chaired by Jan Mainz (president of the Danish Society and director of the National Indicator Project in Denmark) preparations are under way to get a proposal submitted to the EC as soon as the FP6 is launched. This will most likely take place end of this year. FP6 is a great opportunity to assist research and development in all areas of economic activity in Europe and we are aiming to fit the EDOE plans into the topic of information society technologies. For EDOE, a website has been set up with preliminary information on our preparations http://www.edoe.org Background There are large variations in clinical practice across Europe and a significant lack of documentation relating to performance assessment and clinical indicators. Information on Outcomes, Evidence Based Practice (EBM) and Indicators is vital for comparative assessment of healthcare systems in Europe. The purpose of this proposal is to fill the information gap which prevails currently. These projects will incorporate information, guidelines and current research on health outcomes, indicators and evidence based practice in Europe and will enable access to and exchange of valid, comparable information related to quality in health care. Progress to date 2001 – present
Public health relevance: rationale It is anticipated that these actions, interactive and innovative, will offer a wide network for communication on issues relating to quality and best practice in European healthcare. Lack of knowledge relating to best practice in health care is a critical factor hindering effective and efficient health care in Europe and elsewhere. Relevant information collected can be used for public information as well as policy making. Supports development of a health monitoring system as envisaged in the Community action in the field of public health. EDOE Team: Jan Mainz: National Indicator Project, Denmark. Andrew Long: Univ. Salford, UK Alison Brettle: Univ. Salford, UK Siobhan McCarthy: Irish Clearing House on Health Outcomes, Ireland Benno van Beek: Project Manager, |
