new presidency 2014Meeting from 26 to 28 May 2014 in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation elected a new President and Vice-President and organised the closing conference of the 33rd HOPE Exchange Programme.

Mrs.Dr. Sara Pupato Ferrari, Secretary General of the Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, was elected President of HOPE, being previously for three years Vice-President to Mr. Georg Baum, CEO of the German Hospital Federation (DKG – Deutsche Krankenhaus-gesellschaft). The new Vice-President is Mrs. Eva Weinreich-Jensen from the Danish Regions (Danske Regioner).

Vice-President Mrs. Eva Weinreich-Jensen,
outgoing President Mr. Georg Baum and
newly elected President Mrs.Dr. Sara Pupato Ferrari

The topic of the 33rd HOPE Exchange programme was “Quality first! Challenges in the changing hospital and healthcare environment”. Healthcare professionals, participants in the HOPE Exchange programme, were bringing back to Amsterdam the results of their 4-week stay abroad.

participants_rai_voorwebQuality healthcare is one of the most important factors in how individuals perceive their quality of life. In most European countries this is now a major political issue. Behind this trend are several factors, such as patients’ rising expectations, patient’s choice and a growing awareness among healthcare professionals, politicians and citizens that not all healthcare services are of the same quality.

Participants started by looking at the challenges identified at national/regional/healthcare organisation level. They were invited to identify examples of specific quality initiatives that have been successful at national, regional or institution level. On the basis of elements discovered during their stay, the participants divided per host country had to do a presentation capturing good practices. They were also invited to check whether concepts such as patient centeredness, patient perspective, patient empowerment, and patient involvement were considered when improving quality (at board level, operational management involvement team and patient, and in the treatment).

Download here the HOPE report on “Quality first! Challenges in the changing hospital and healthcare environment”.

Individual presentations of the participating countries on the HOPE Exchange Programme (in alphabetical order):

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Latvia
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom