Healthcare

Start with who needs non-clinical patient support and care coordination and why. Around clinics, patients and families drive demand in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates.

• List 10 offers or suppliers in the UAE with price per patient in AED and who buys.
• Interview 5 people from clinics, patients and families: what do they buy now, how often, what do they pay, what annoys them?
• Learn three terms: Triage (sorting patients by how urgent their need is); Informed consent (a patient's clear agreement after understanding); Hand hygiene (the cleaning steps that stop infection).
• Write a one-page brief: user, need, hoped-for price, and the rule that matters most.

Activity. Complete the market table, five interview notes and the brief.

Standard to meet. Price ten offers, interview five users, and state one need in one sentence.

Know the rule before the work. Main hazards here: patient privacy and infection. Hazard thinking means list each step, ask what could go wrong, and decide the control.

• Ask your local authority or free zone which licence, permit or inspection applies. Write the answer and the date you asked.
• For each step (greet and register; route to the right service; support the visit; follow up) write the hazard and the control.
• Use a hierarchy: remove the hazard, replace it, separate people from it, change the way of work, then protective equipment last.
• Keep a one-page incident rule: who you call, what you stop, what you record.

Activity. Draw the flow and mark hazard and control at each step.

Standard to meet. Name a hazard and a control for every step, and answer the licence question in writing.

The work is a short chain: greet and register, route to the right service, support the visit, follow up. Learn each link, then link them with records.

• Write a checklist for each of the 4 steps: input, action, check, output.
• Time each step three times and note the slowest.
• Record a defect or delay each time it happens: what, where, cause, fix.
• Measure patients routed correctly the first time; this is your main number.

Activity. Run the chain three times (simulated or real) and fill the log.

Standard to meet. Complete three logs, and give the slowest step a cause and a fix.

What you do not measure you cannot improve. Your main measure is patients routed correctly the first time.

• Define patients routed correctly the first time: what counts, what does not, and over what period.
• Draw a simple chart of the last 10 results and mark the average.
• Find the top two causes of loss with a tally sheet, then fix the biggest one first.
• Check measuring tools: are they accurate, clean and in date?

Activity. Collect a tally for one week and make a Pareto chart.

Standard to meet. Complete the tally, name the biggest cause, and plan one fix with a date.

Know the cost of one patient before you set the price. Include materials, labour, energy, transport, licence share, waste and a safety margin.

• Cost per patient = total cost divided by patients sold (not made).
• Margin = (price minus cost) divided by price.
• Break-even units = fixed costs divided by gain per unit.
• Test the price with two users and write down the answer.

Activity. Build the cost sheet with AED on every line and have your mentor check it.

Standard to meet. Check that no cost is missing, and calculate the margin twice by different routes.

Customers return when you keep promises. Promise only what your workflow can deliver.

• Write a one-page offer: what is included, what is not, price, time, how you fix mistakes.
• Write a short script for the first call or visit.
• Agree dates in writing; confirm each change.
• Handle a complaint in four steps: listen, apologise for the impact, fix, record what changed.

Activity. Present the offer to two users and note changes.

Standard to meet. Write an offer with scope, price, time and a fix rule, and collect comments from two users.

Small, real and recorded. Change one thing at a time and learn quickly.

• Keep a daily log: date, units, cost, delays, defects, safety notes.
• Hold a 15-minute review each week with your mentor.
• Write down every complaint and what you changed.
• Take photos only where allowed and never of people without consent.

Activity. Complete 30 days of the log and four weekly reviews.

Standard to meet. Log 30 days, give each defect a cause, and keep weekly notes.

A decision beats a feeling. Compare plan with result and choose to scale, change or stop.

• Make a before and after table: cost per unit, defects, delays, repeat users.
• Write three lessons.
• Decide scale, change or stop, with the numbers behind it.
• Give two peers one strength and one fix each.

Activity. Present to a review room and collect one written comment from a user.

Standard to meet. Justify the decision with numbers, and give two peer reviews.

Support staff handle the most private facts a person has. Every step of the journey needs consent and care.

• Share patient facts only with those who need them to give care.
• Confirm identity with two identifiers before any record is opened or labelled.
• Explain what happens next in plain words and check the patient understood.
• Report a privacy slip the same day; hiding it makes it worse.

Activity. Role-play three front-desk calls and mark each against the privacy rules.

Standard to meet. Check identity, and share nothing without consent.

Waiting is the patient's biggest complaint and often a flow problem, not a staff problem.

• Time the steps from arrival to leaving for 20 patients.
• Find the longest wait and its cause.
• Use a handover note with who, what, when, what next.
• Track the share of patients routed correctly the first time.

Activity. Build a flow chart and a waiting-time table from sample data.

Standard to meet. Find the longest wait, and propose one fix.

Things sometimes go wrong in care. What matters is how fast the team notices, tells the patient honestly and learns from it.

• Separate three things: a complaint (the person is unhappy), an incident (something went wrong) and a near miss (it almost did). Each is logged.
• Listen first, apologise for the experience without guessing at blame, and tell the person what happens next and by when.
• Report the event the same shift using the facts only: time, place, what was seen, who was told. No opinions.
• Review the cause in a no-blame meeting and agree one change with an owner and a date.

Activity. Write a complaint log entry and a 5-line reply for a sample case supplied by your mentor.

Standard to meet. Record facts only in the log, give a next step and a date in the reply, and make one change with an owner named.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Non-clinical care support

Notes: Name triage, informed consent and hand hygiene and say what a support role is. Notes: this course does not teach clinical practice, which needs a licensed qualification; the hazards are patient privacy and infection.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Privacy, consent and hygiene

Notes: Explain that identity is checked with two identifiers and that facts are shared only with those who need them. Notes: show a call from a relative and ask what to do; with no written permission on file, offer to pass on a message.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Practise front-desk calls

Notes: Role-play three front-desk calls and mark each against the privacy rules. Notes: work only under a competent supervisor; check identity is confirmed and nothing is shared without consent.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Map patient flow

Notes: Time the steps from arrival to leaving for 20 patients, find the longest wait and propose one fix. Notes: an average wait of 38 minutes with 14 minutes lost to a missing form falls to 24 minutes with a pre-visit check; track patients routed correctly the first time.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Handle a complaint or event

Notes: Evaluate a sample case and write a log entry and a five-line reply that separates a complaint, an incident and a near miss. Notes: log it the same day, call within 24 hours and review in 5 working days; 4 wrong reminders in 40 is 10 per cent, enough to fix the template.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Coach a desk team on privacy and handover

Notes: Lead a desk team to use handover notes and report privacy slips the same day. Notes: sample five patient files a week for facts only; hold a no-blame review with one change, one owner and a date.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Design the support and privacy system

Notes: Design a registration, routing, privacy and complaint system for a clinic with an audit and a 12-month plan. Notes: audit consent and access records and routing accuracy; the plan supports licensed clinical staff and does not replace their rules.