The Department of Health Systems Management and Leadership at the University of Malta, in collaboration with the CareMalta Group, recently organised a workshop titled ‘Designing and implementing integrated care solutions, challenges and opportunities’.

The workshop was held as part of a study unit of the MSc in Healthcare Systems: Management and Leadership, offered at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Axel Kaehne, from the Health Services Research, Medical School, Edge Hill University, was the keynote speaker.

During the workshop, professors, doctors and experts in the field of elderly care discussed various aspects of integrated care, namely patient safety, how to implement cost-saving rather than cost-cutting in order to be more efficient, the importance of having relatives residing in facilities as part of the equation and how an IT system that is safe and secure is necessary for providing access and consent.

We do not have all the time in the world or all the resources, so we need to work smartly and strategically- Axel Kaehne

“We do not have all the time in the world or all the resources, so we need to work smartly and strategically,” Kaehne said, while mentioning the importance of change, how to bring about change and the need to feel part of change rather than being affected by it.

At the end of the workshop, CareMalta Group’s COO Noel Borg presented Kaehne and Sandra Buttigieg, head of the University’s Department of Health Systems Management and Leadership, with a token of appreciation for choosing the group to be a partner in this workshop.

James Sciriha, CEO of CareMalta Group, said: “Embracing integrated care will ultimately improve the quality of the services we offer at CareMalta and we can bring a positive change across all the services, namely, the elderly sector, mental health services, motor-neuron and in the disability field.”