Former UK Health Minister, Professor Ara Darzi gave a lecture on public health at the American University of Armenia today, with an emphasis on reform process in Great Britain.

In his “Innovation in Quality and Safety” lecture, Lord Ara Darzi stressed that patients are very concerned about the quality of services they receive. He believes that innovation and technologies play a big part in quality and safety.

“Life expectancy doubled since the 1900s thanks to technological progress and scientific literacy, and healthcare is one of the factors with most impact on increase of life expectancy. It’s disappointing to see that Armenia spends only 1% of GDP on public health. The U.S. allocates 18-19% of its GDP to the sector, while Europe spends 8-10% in average,” he said.

Lord Ara Darzi

Photo: Aurora Humanitarian Initiative / Edgar Barseghyan

Professor Darzi recommended setting standards for treatment quality in Armenia.

“Now, after the changes we introduced, each medical institution publishes standard indexes along with financial reports. Both are available to the public and they form ratings for the given institution. Those with high ratings receive 2-3% more funding from the government,” said Ara Darzi.

He also introduced the audience to practical application of the latest technologies in the UK.

“If you really care about the quality of healthcare, you have to get feedback from patients. A few years ago we introduced a mobile app to our patients, where they could assess medical institutes and the quality of healthcare services they were provided there,” said the Professor.

He also replied to a question from an audience member, who asked how Armenia should treat a medical error, when media turns it into a public discussion leading to talks about possible regulations.

Lord Ara Darzi

Photo: Aurora Humanitarian Initiative / Edgar Barseghyan

“No one is safe from failing, we all make mistakes. In case of a medical error, transparency is an important factor. You have to report the errors and learn from them. Politicians should understand that punishment won’t help the matter, but will actually suppress the errors and drive them underground. Once they go underground, graver errors will occur and no one will know, while the health system will become less protected. The media plays a huge part. They should cover the issue carefully and the doctors should know they won’t be punished if they report an error. We have to be able to learn from our mistakes,” he said.

During the lecture, Ara Darzi told about quality care for patients with heart diseases.

“There are 31 medical institutions in London, and if a patient had a heart attack, the ambulance would take them to the nearest one. We conducted a research in those 31 institutions to see if they complied with the medical requirements for treating a heart attack. It turned out that only 3 of them actually did. As a result, we singled out just 5 institutions for heart attack treatment and upgraded them to the desirable standard. Now the patients who suffered from heart attack receive round-the-clock treatment only in the mentioned institutions. Any patient with embolic stroke or heart attack receives professional help for 3 hours regardless of the fact if they have their wallet with them or not. This reform had huge impact on sickness and mortality rates,” he told.

Lord Ara Darzi

Photo: Aurora Humanitarian Initiative / Edgar Barseghyan

Professor Darze also shared his opinion on Armenia’s health system:

“Armenia needs to find the right way to fund the system, be that private, public, or tax-funded. You need to invest in the institute of public services, which doesn’t work in Armenia now. There are quite a lot of hospitals here and some of them just need better management. It’s a simple way to build a good health system. I believe the healthcare leadership is trying to do that. I’m helping out with the cancer strategy, as it’s a very important area. It needs more centralization and volume.”

Professor Ara Darzi is Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London. He holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London and the Institute of Cancer Research. Lord Darzi is the Executive Chair of the World Innovation Summit for Health in Qatar. He is also a Consultant Surgeon at Imperial College Hospital NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust.

He was knighted for his services in medicine and surgery in 2002 and introduced to the United Kingdom’s House of Lords as Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham in 2007. Since 2009, he has been a member of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council

Mariam Manoyan