KKESH and Al-Faisal University signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of studies, research and training.

The agreement is part of the partnership projects implemented by KKESH with different community institutions to support research and training in various ophthalmology fields in the Kingdom.

The agreement includes providing clinical training in the field of ophthalmology to students of Medicine at Al-Faisal University. The agreement also allows interns to receive training in different specialties at KKESH and it gives them opportunities to conduct joint research and studies so that both parties can gain the best benefit of their potentials and experiences.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi, Chief Executive Officer, sponsors the opening of the World Optical Conference in Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital in the presence of Mr. Nasser Al-Hakbani, Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group and Dr. Awad Al-Amri, Vice-Associate President for Academic Affairs and Dr. Yasser Al-Sadhan, Chairman of the Scientific Committee

Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, Minister of Health, said that the national program “Retinopathy of Prematurity" implemented by the hospital will maintain the vision of an estimated 400 children a year who were about to go blind. However, with this program, their vision is maintained and the contribution to the community health becomes better.

Upon the launch of the national program, on Sunday, March 17, 2019, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom, he mentioned that the hospital and its effective role in the development of Ophthalmology services in the Kingdom helped to preserve the vision of thousands over the last 35 years.

The program aims to protect premature infants from losing their vision and provide timely medical care. In its first phase, the program covers a neonatal intensive care unit in MOH hospitals. It includes more than 21 cameras distributed in all regions and will be gradually increased in a certain time. With special digital cameras, the program takes fundus photos then send them electronically to the hospital where the retina consultants view the medical reports , see the photos , diagnose the case, and send the recommendation electronically, including the management plan, either follow-up or referral to a consultant for treatment.

The hospital has provided treatment for more than 4 million patients since it was first established. A report of the Hospital Patients Affairs Department revealed that 2018 witnessed a growth in the number of patients, reaching more 257,000 patients compared to 238,000 patients in 2017. The report stated that the hospital has also operated the evening clinics to meet the patients’ needs. In addition, the hospital increased the outpatient clinics capacity by (20%) at the beginning of 2019.

The report showed the success that KKESH achieved in carrying out more than 12,200 surgeries, 916 of which are surgical procedures of cornea and tissue transplantation, 9 are of Keratoprosthesis transplantation, and a surgery for replacing the endothelium of the cornea and the Descemet's membrane, which was performed for the first time in the Kingdom.

The report also showed a significant improvement in the performance of the patient call center. The number of answered calls was more than 340,000 phone calls compared to 263,000 in 2017, which means an increase of 29%. This development was due to the expansion of the patient call center, the application of the latest communication technologies, and the improvement programs designated to continuously improve the patient's experience at the hospital.

In 2018, KKESH was ranked the first on the general performance indicator for the interactive call center it has. Competing other medical cities and specialized hospitals in the Kingdom, KKESH won the first place for the second year in a row. The Ministry of Health honored KKESH for the distinguished service it provided, with which patients showed a 95% satisfaction. The ceremony was held recently in Madinah.

His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the Saudi Ophthalmology Society, SOS, opened the ceremony which started with verses from the Holy Quran. Then Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi addressed a remark in which he reviewed the achievements of KKESH and its distinction in care, education and training in ophthalmology. In the ceremony, 461 doctors from the Kingdom and 37 others trained in sub-specialties from the GCC countries celebrated their graduation.

The chairman explained that KKESH is one of the leading medical institutions in the region due to the number of researches it published. The total number of scientific projects published in 2018 was 116 researches and 75 scientific articles. The hospital has many achievements in the field of medical care and patient service. For example, the increased capacity of the outpatient clinics and the Short Stay Unit by 20% at the end of 2018, winning the first place in the performance indicator of the Ministry of Health 937 among all other medical sectors in the kingdom for two consecutive years, winning the Minister's Award for voluntary qualitative initiatives, and having the highest evaluation score from CBAHI in the essential safety requirements for patients' safety (Essential Safety Requirements ESR).

The chairman also shed the light on the importance of the national campaign, "Help me to see” conducted by KKESH in cooperation with the Saudi Center for Organ Donation in order to encourage the donation of cornea after death instead of importing it.

He added that the Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah will launch the national program of "Retinopathy of prematurity, ROP" on Sunday.

Then, Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz gave a speech in which he explained that the Saudi Ophthalmology Society, SOS, aims at encouraging medical education. In more than 30 years, SOS organized 31 annual scientific meetings and more than 80 scientific symposia in different regions of the Kingdom to educate working doctors and primary health care professionals, he added. SOS held more than 190 public symposia to raise the awareness of common eye diseases. It also issued 23 pamphlets to spread health awareness. Prince Abdulaziz pointed out that the Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology has achieved a distinguished position as a peer reviewed journal which is concerned with publishing studies and scientific researches that benefit specialized researchers and aim at developing researches on ophthalmology. Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology is electronically issued, and it is available on the most famous international websites specialized in the publication of scientific and medical journals. Available in Arabic and English, the website of SOS continues its success in serving the ophthalmology community in line with meeting the aspirations of SOS members and the ophthalmology community.

His Royal Highness also drew the attention to the focus of this year's symposium; the new developments in the field of ophthalmology, optometry, and visual impairment prevention. The number of participants in this symposium reached 1800 participants who are interested in the field of ophthalmology. Those are mainly doctors, optometrists, and experts in visual impairment prevention. In addition, 45 medical companies participated in the medical exhibition that accompanied the meeting.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz bestowed medals to a number of distinguished ophthalmologists. He also honored a number of medical companies for their support. His Royal Highness then visited the accompanying medical exhibition, which included 45 platforms showing the latest medical devices in the field of ophthalmology.

The Saudi Ophthalmology Symposium 2019 lasted for three days. It is the largest scientific meeting on ophthalmology in the GCC countries as more than 18 international professors and 160 speakers from within the Kingdom participated in it.

KKESH and the Saudi Central Board for the Accreditation of Health Institutions (CBAHI) signed a joint cooperation agreement on Tuesday morning. The agreement aimed at activating joint work and continuous cooperation in all fields related to the development of quality health services and patient safety and raising the level of healthcare services in the field of ophthalmology in Saudi Arabia.

The agreement includes benefiting from the experience of the King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital in implementing the quality standards of health and patient safety specified by the CBAHI in ophthalmic programs in addition to the joint cooperation in researches about the quality of healthcare and patient safety. KKESH has a distinguished research center and it is the first in the region in the number of researches. It has published 1794 medical researches and 1754 scientific papers until 2017.

The agreement is about cooperation in the field of education and training that contribute to the development of quality and patient safety skills to help improve the level of medical services in the field of ophthalmology. KKESH is the leading medical facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which provides training to meet the healthcare needs in all regions of the Kingdom and the Gulf countries. KKESH has trained more than 322 ophthalmologists through the fellowship and residency programs and provided support programs in technology and ophthalmic nursing

Toastmaster Club has been initiated at KKESH under the name "Future Vision" in October 2018. The Toastmasters is considered to be similar to Olympics competitions between clubs. It is divided according to the country in which they are organized, and within each country, clubs are divided into regions and sectors which compete together. There are annual conferences to select the best participants in the various activities of the organization. There are more than 190 clubs in the Gulf countries. They meet each year in comprehensive conferences organized in one of the Gulf countries to compete and win. The aim is to raise the skills and capabilities that Toastmasters' members seek to develop.

It is worth mentioning that six candidates of KKESH were selected for the next phase. They competed with the "Health First" Club on Saturday, February 23, 2019.  KKESH staff won the top positions in the 10^th  area  for all categories of speech (comic, global, evaluation, spontaneous) organized by Toastmasters which will allow them to compete with the members of the toastmasters who are selected from all the Arab clubs in Riyadh

.In a spontaneous moment, Faisal, took a photo of his father, while he was trying to take a photo of his daughter using his mobile phone despite his poor vision. The expressive photo spread widely in the social medical under the comment "did not see her with his eyes but with his heart."

The photo was received with too many responses in the social media. The father and his family were so happy of the all that positive responses. The official account of King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital contacted Faisal to inform him that his father had been given a seat in the (Sensory photography) session for visually impaired and blind people.

Abu Faisal was one of the first to attend the training course offered by KKESH on Thursday (February 7th), where he learned about a set of basic skills he needed to take photographs.
After the course, he took a wonderful photo of Hanoof , his nine-year-old daughter.

Abu Faisal thanked the hospital for this initiative. He said that his dream in taking photos of his family became real. His children were very happy especially his daughter who encouraged her father to take a photo of her.

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This initiative comes as part of the social communication initiatives of the hospital in order to expand the scope of beneficiaries of its health and education services and to meet the needs of the visually impaired and the blind to develop their skills and involvement in the community. KKESH was rated, for the second time, as the first interactive center among health facilities for the year 2018. 

KKESH won the prize of H.E. Minister of Health for quality voluntary initiatives for the initiative which we launched under the slogan "Eyes for You".  The initiative was implemented in Hail and it aimed to reach patients in their regions and reduce the waiting lists. The initiative covered (100) cases including (40) cataract cases and intraocular implants. (50) Diabetic retinopathy patients received Avastin injections. The campaign was accompanied with health education programs. It was implemented in one day by KKESH voluntary medical team.

The hospital launched a number of voluntary initiatives under the "Health Volunteering 2" program for the year 2018. The first initiative was under the slogan "in the Blink of an Eye" to educate people about the risks of using Laser pens. The campaign aims to educate (1000) students and it was implemented in (4) schools in Riyadh. The second initiative was implemented under the slogan "Your Eyes' Safety" which aimed to spread awareness regarding how to prevent eye injuries and how to implement eye first aid. This initiative was implemented in Riyadh's metro and targeted "300" workers. The  third initiative under the slogan "we care about your eyes" focused on educating people on the importance of taking care of the eyes  and targeted "300" citizens.

The fourth initiative launched by the hospital under the slogan «Help me to see» aimed to spread the culture of corneal donation and help patients in need.  It was implemented in Riyadh and succeeded in obtaining '350' approvals for corneal donation.

All the above initiatives are part of the hospital's role in providing healthcare services

KKESH celebrated the graduation of (20) fellows from the Ophthalmology Fellowship Program on Tuesday, 13 February 2019.   (19) Saudi and one Kuwaiti fellow graduated from the program which lasted for (24 months) during which fellows received scientific lectures and clinical training in specialized fields of ophthalmology, in addition to conducting scientific research, which will contribute to the development of the therapeutic program and patient care.

Since its establishment, KKESH has given special attention to the field of academic education, training and development in the field of ophthalmology in order to improve ophthalmologists skills and meet the needs of specialized ophthalmic care at the medical and technical levels as part of   hospital mission to give the priority to the patients' advanced health care through such programs. 

KKESH scored the first place for the second year as the best interactive call center for the year 2018. This achievement came as result of the distinguished patient services which gained a satisfaction rate of 95%. 

Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al Rajhi, Chief Executive Officer of the hospital said: "This achievement came as      a result of employees' efforts, noting that the hospital's work mission indicates that success and excellence is not achieved by only providing distinguished health services but also in listening and developing services taking into account the suggestions of our patients". KKESH was honored by the Ministry of Health at the ceremony held in Medina.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi said: "KKESH became the first as the best interactive call center for the year 2018.  This is the result of KKESH staff's dedication to work, commitment to patients' services and compliance to the national transition plan 2020 to achieve the best work environment that provides the best service to patients"

He stressed the importance of developing the staff's performance in various fields through providing specialized courses in communication and dealing with patients and work load management which contributed significantly to the development of the hospital performance and helped creating a healthy environment that brings satisfaction to all workers.