Q: What inspired the themes areas selected for this year’s HASA conference Call for Abstracts?

Our HASA Clinical and Nursing sub-committees wanted to identify themes that reflect key priorities in the healthcare industry, while ensuring they are broad enough to attract submissions from a diverse range of healthcare professionals.

Q: What types of abstract submissions are you hoping to see from healthcare professionals, clinicians and industry leaders this year?

We look forward to receiving a diverse range of submissions. Our aim is to showcase best practices, quality improvement projects and formal research initiatives at this year’s HASA Quality Summit.

We are particularly interested in hearing from healthcare teams working on the front lines of patient care. Some of the most innovative ideas and effective solutions emerge from those who experience challenges firsthand and are directly involved in addressing them. The summit provides an opportunity for these teams to share their experiences, highlight their achievements and inspire others across the healthcare sector.

We also encourage submissions from individual healthcare professionals who have identified and successfully addressed healthcare challenges, and whose insights and innovations can contribute to improving patient care and outcomes.

Q: This year’s abstract submission programme places strong emphasis on reimagining healthcare quality. What does “quality healthcare” mean in today’s rapidly evolving healthcare environment?

International organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Institute of Medicine define healthcare quality using similar domains, including safety, efficiency, effectiveness, patient-centredness, equity, integration and timeliness. Monitoring, measuring and continuously improving these domains are also essential components of quality healthcare. Quality in healthcare is best understood as a framework, as it encompasses the many people, processes and systems that interact within a complex healthcare environment. Together, these elements work to ensure that every patient receives safe, effective and high-quality care.

Q: Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of healthcare delivery and is important theme within this year’s abstracts programme. How do you see AI contributing to improved patient outcomes and quality of care in South Africa?

We are still in the early days of integrating AI capabilities into the South African healthcare industry but we are already feeling the impact of its significant contribution in unlocking inefficiencies and improving care delivery.  The challenge is not where to integrate AI but rather, we must ensure the development and implementation of  guardrails to ensure the responsible application of AI in the clinical care environment and broader health ecosystem.

Q: Equity is a focus within this year’s abstracts programme. Why is it critical that conversations around healthcare innovation also address access and inclusivity?

Failing to include aspects of equity in the discussion would be a significant missed opportunity. Healthcare innovations that are scalable, affordable and improve patient individual outcomes will make the most impact.  Ensuring that the benefits of innovation are accessible to all not only improves individual health outcomes but also strengthens and enhances the broader healthcare ecosystem.

Q: Workforce planning remains one of the sector’s biggest challenges and is one of the themes for this year’s abstract submission. What kinds of solutions or new thinking is HASA hoping to encourage through this year’s submissions?

We were very intentional about including this theme as it a global healthcare priority and an opportunity to highlight how researchers and teams are grappling with this problem and the solutions that they are testing and implementing.  There is no one intervention that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the healthcare workforce but providing spaces where collaborative ideas and dialogue can flourish is a key to address this issue.

Q: Why is it important to keep the patient at the centre of discussions around workforce development and healthcare innovation?

The benefits of placing the patient at the centre of all healthcare discussions are numerous.  The entire healthcare system becomes focused on improving outcomes and experience, system safety improves, cost efficiencies are unlocked and personalised care that delivers exceptional value becomes realised.  Our patients must always benefit from our interventions to address workforce challenges and in our incorporation of innovation tools, technologies and care delivery models to provide care.

Q: What role can healthcare professionals play in driving meaningful quality improvement within their own organisations and areas of expertise?

Healthcare professionals have a vital role to play.  Quality improvement has become a well-established and embedded approach to healthcare provision.  Quality improvement will not succeed unless it is a collaborative process. Professionals working within the healthcare system are often best placed to identify opportunities for improvement, as they engage daily with the processes, challenges and data that shape care delivery. These are the building blocks for a team approach with varied understanding and insight into different components of the system, the problems and possible solutions.

Q: How important is collaboration between clinicians, hospital leadership, policymakers and innovators in addressing the healthcare challenges facing South Africa?

There is tremendous potential to be unlocked when all stakeholders are aligned and focused on addressing these challenges. Bringing together diverse perspectives helps to develop solutions that are sustainable, deliver meaningful impact and accelerate implementation.

Q: What trends or emerging priorities are you seeing across the healthcare sector that are influencing this year’s conference themes?

The impact of technology on healthcare is set to remain a defining trend for the foreseeable future, with innovative and more effective ways of delivering care continuing to emerge. At the same time, increasing attention is being paid to the influence of external factors on the healthcare environment and the industry’s preparedness to respond to them. Recent natural disasters in South Africa and around the world have highlighted how environmental events can significantly disrupt healthcare delivery and access. These experiences have reinforced the importance of preparedness, resilience and effective risk mitigation across the healthcare system.

Q: What advice would you give to healthcare professionals considering submitting an abstract for this year’s HASA Conference?

I would ask them not to feel intimidated by the process.  We want to hear about their initiatives and the impact that they are having on patient care.  No project is too small to be considered as a HASA abstract this year.  If they have tackled a healthcare problem and learnt some valuable lessons along the way then we want to hear about it.  The HASA abstract requirements are straight-forward and the online abstract submission portal is easy to navigate.

Q: What impact do you hope this year’s abstracts programme will have on the future of healthcare delivery in South Africa?

We are excited to create a platform where our healthcare colleagues can connect, collaborate and learn from one another. Our goal is to foster meaningful engagement across the healthcare sector, encourage the exchange of ideas and inspire innovative solutions that improve patient care. If we achieve that, we will have truly contributed to Building Health, Together.

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