Minutes of ISQua 2021 AGM

The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) Annual General Meeting was held via Zoom on Thursday, 28th October 2021 at 11:00 GMT.

Notice of Meeting

The notice of the meeting was sent to Members on 30th September 2021. The President, Jeffrey Braithwaite, declared the meeting open and welcomed all Members.

Apologies

Members present at the Annual General Meeting registered their attendance in advance of the meeting. Apologies were received from:

Helen Crisp, Life Member, United Kingdom

Proxies:

Shin Ushiro, on behalf of Sumihito Tamura, Individual Member, Japan
Katerina Tarasova, on behalf of Lesley Thompson, Institutional Member, Canada
Jeffrey Braithwaite, on behalf of Denis Herbaux, Institutional Member, Belgium
Jeffrey Braithwaite, on behalf of Yves Smeets, Life Member, Australia
Jeffrey Braithwaite, on behalf of Zuleima Rubio Silva, Individual Member, Colombia

Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting

Resolution

It was moved by Wendy Nicklin, seconded by Ezequiel Elorrio Garcia, that the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 28th October 2020 be accepted.

Carried with two disagreements.

Presidents Report

The President, Jeffrey Braithwaite, stated the world had changed profoundly and that had certainly been the case for ISQua, noting the Florence conference had to be held virtually. The president noted many other examples that had made the pursuit of high quality and safer care more difficult to achieve. ISQua always seeks to be ahead of the curve no matter the challenge and had been successful in doing so.

While we are still in the midst of the pandemic, we can see the other crisis unfold: climate change. We are contributing to discussions, debates, and academic literature about the climate crisis as this has a profound effect on human health.

We are strengthening our engagement in lower-and middle-income settings. Traditionally, ISQua has tried to spread its work across low middle and high middle-income settings and although we work strongly with high-income countries, it's particularly important to promote equity and engage low- and middle-income countries in the pursuit of quality and safety. The President noted we have tried to do that as a Board and Society in recent years.

The President noted that our ongoing focus is the three core missions:

To provide knowledge for people, so they have good evidence-based solutions to their quality and safety problems.
To encourage our stakeholders to network with each other as there is strength and depth in collaboration.
To give a voice to everyone, including those who do not always have an opportunity to contribute as much as others.
Another focus is person-centeredness. This means patients, clients and consumers have a voice as a stakeholder and all our work is centred on the person. Healthcare is high tech and high touch but what we are most interested in is the relationships between people, which is the ultimate factor in supporting things to work well in healthcare.

The President foreshadowed that Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio, Honorary Treasurer, would talk more on finances indicating that despite tough times, we are intent on being financially sustainable. He thanked Ezequiel, and the Finance and Audit committee, for their work and for being constantly focused on the Society remaining financially sustainable.

ISQua is currently conducting a refreshment and renewal of the strategic plan. The President noted our strategic plan is strong and has served us well. The Board’s intent is to provide a healthy environment for the continued good work of the Society, and we are refreshing our strategic intent and plan. This is part of the ongoing work by several groups within ISQua.

The President wholeheartedly thanked the Irish Department of Health and the Irish Government for their generous ongoing support of the Society and its work.

The President extended his thanks to the following:

The CEO, Carsten Engel, and the ISQua Team, who through their hard work and dedication, make ISQua work efficiently; and extended his appreciation to them on behalf of the members and stakeholders.
Peter Lachman, CEO for five years until April 2021, for the work he did during his time to support and promote ISQua’s mission and agenda.
The entire Board, noting it was an honour to chair a Board of such talent, willingness, and commitment.
The Academy members, experts, and Stakeholders.
The ISQua partners, members and fellows who share their expertise with others.
And finally, Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio and Wendy Nicklin as dedicated Officers of the company.

In concluding his report, the President noted we are collectively making a difference to health and healthcare quality and safety globally and will continue to do so.

Finally, the President extended a special thank you to Wendy Nicklin. The President highlighted that Wendy has been associated with ISQua for more than 20 years. For over 10 years, she was a member of the Accreditation Council and the Board of ISQua. She has also held the positions of Chair of the Accreditation Council and President of ISQua.

Wendy has been a tremendous support and colleague, and in all the time knowing her, the President stated that he has never heard anyone say anything less than express admiration for her contribution to ISQua and for the work she has done.

The President thanked Wendy for all her contributions to ISQua.

CEO Report

The CEO, Carsten Engel, also extended his thanks to Wendy Nicklin, noting she was a leading figure in ISQua, and it was a pleasure to have worked with her for over ten years.

The CEO confirmed that the Annual report would be emailed to all Members. The Annual Report details information and statistics on ISQua's activities over the past year.

The Key highlights of the CEO's report were as follows:

The staff have ensured a continuation of all programmes while dealing with new ways of working and maintained consistent communication with our members.
The Florence conference was postponed several times but finally took place as a virtual event in July 2021 with over 1,000 attendees. 90% of attendees surveyed said they would recommend the conference to their colleagues. It was a great success and generated a modest financial contribution for ISQua.
There have been a record number of active Fellows on the fellowship programme, with a growth of 66% since September 2020.
83 scholarships were awarded to recipients in Low and Lower-Middle-income countries, and Latin America, for the Fellowship Programme.
54 scholarships were awarded to patients and patient representatives to complete the Principles of Person-Centred Care Specialist Certificate.
A new Journal, IJQHC Communications, was successfully launched in July 2021.
Institutional Membership has remained stable over the last year. There has been a steady increase in Individual Members since 2015, with continued growth.
The International Academy of Quality and Safety provided a solid anchoring in academia, and are a great resource for ISQua. The eighteen new academy members elected to IAQS in June 2021, were acknowledged and welcomed. They join our growing academy from North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Over 2,000 assignments from Fellows were corrected over the past year and the vigour and willingness to learn were clear in all assignments.
Two focused virtual events were held in the past year, each attracting more than 100 delegates.
Smaller events will be offered over the next year until our annual international conference in October 2022. The next virtual event is scheduled for 23rd November 2021. The CEO welcomed all to attend our face-to-face meeting in Brisbane in 2022. The CEO informed everyone the call for papers was now open, and members and organisations can submit their papers.

The CEO concluded by indicating there is work ahead of us and we hope to launch our new strategy by 2022. It is time for a fresh look at external evaluation and although its reach is expanding, we need to keep it updated to meet the challenges of the new world.

The CEO further noted we will continue to use existing and new partnerships to expand our education programmes and we have some good examples of partnering with other organisations in other counties to make our resources available to as many people as possible. We will also continue working to find a balance between surveying, working and conferencing in the virtual and physical world.

Finally, the CEO thanked ISQua staff for all their work over the past year, noting they were diligent and hardworking and he was proud to join the team.

Resolution

It was moved by Tricia Woodhead, seconded by Shin Ushiro that the President’s Report and the CEO’s report be accepted.

Carried with one disagreement.

Financial Statements for year ending 31st December 2020

The Honorary Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio presented the financial statements for the year ending on 31st December 2020.

He highlighted the following points:

The turnover for 2020 was €1,193,790 (€2,137,164 in 2019). This is a decrease of €943,374 or a 44% decrease on2019's income
We have a surplus of €124,650 (A deficit of €190,389 in 2019)
Other operating income is the Government Subsidy Schemes €182,335
Reserves were €1,005,884 – this is an increase of €124,740
Operating surplus of €11,095 before the investment income of €113,555.

Resolution

It was moved by Stephen Clark, seconded by Bruno Lucet, that the Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2020 be accepted.

Carried with two abstentions

Appointment of Auditor

Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio recommended that Crowe Ireland be reappointed as our auditors.

Resolution

It was moved by Philip Crowley, seconded by John Brennan that Crowe Ireland be approved to audit the ISQua accounts for the year ending 31st December 2021.

Carried with one abstention

In closing, the President noted that this was a tough year with so many headwinds that so many organisations experienced. ISQua was no exception. To have created a surplus without being able to hold an in-person annual conference, which significantly adds to the budget each year, and considering the previous year produced a deficit, was no trivial matter and can be considered a strong performance. The President extended his congratulations to Ezequiel Garcia Elorrio as Chair and Honorary Treasurer, the Board, CEO and Staff for producing a positive result in a difficult operating environment.

Date of Next Annual General Meeting

The next Annual General Meeting is tentatively scheduled virtually for 17th October 2022, coinciding with the annual conference in Brisbane, Australia.

There being no further business President Jeffrey Braithwaite formally adjourned the meeting.