For health care professionals, a strong sense of collegial community lies at the center of personal and professional well-being, resilience, and flourishing at work. It is also connected to the quality of care delivered by medical teams and the quality of caring experienced by those who receive care from those medical teams. Communication, coordination of care, complex and high demand problems and the need for psychological safety within teams impact the ways in which medical teams function, while making the extraordinary act of rendering quality medical care seem ordinary. 


Drawing from the fields of sociology, psychology, organizational behavior and complexity theory while grounding the practical applications in mindfulness, this presentation explores the importance of collegial communities, how they can be cultivated and strengthened by Mindful Practice, and how mindful teams in turn impact the delivery of quality medical care. The presentation examines the social networks within the medical care environment, exploring how medical teams function in suboptimal and optimal conditions. It further explores new paradigms and opportunities that can be utilized to improve team functioning. 


Drawing from 15 years of experience with Mindful Practice, the discussion additionally elucidates ways to develop the Mindful Team, leveraging qualities already present within the individuals that make up the team, as well as qualities of the collective of the team itself. These qualities include attentiveness, vigilance, tolerance of complexity and ambiguity, and critical curiosity. Finally, the presentation concludes by connecting mindfulness and teamfulness, building a model of healthcare that enhances professional flourishing and relationship-centered care. 

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic to the world is unprecedented bold in terms of intensity and duration. Starting in January 2020, Hong Kong has experienced four waves of COVID-19 outbreak over 16 months, approaching a total of 12,000 cases. Hong Kong is a place that admit all confirmed cases of COVID-19 to hospitals for isolation. Hospital Authority (HA), the statutory body responsible for managing all public hospitals in Hong Kong, has been encountering a variety of challenges. What are the strengths and weaknesses of HA? What are the opportunities and threats HA facing? Lessons learnt from the SARS experience laid the foundation for the preparedness in response to major infectious disease outbreaks and crises. HA has the infection control infrastructure in place. It encompasses teams of expertise in infection control and infectious diseases and regular infection control training for frontline staff, as well as the hardware and software such as isolation facilities, stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE), capacity of laboratory diagnostic testing, establishment of surveillance systems etc. Nevertheless, with the limited knowledge of this novel emerging infectious disease, COVID-19, uncertainties cast doubt on staff confidence, even for the professionals. Meanwhile, the global shortage of PPE supply, the insistent service demand during winter surge, and various forms of industrial actions pose further difficulties on combating the ongoing epidemic. How does HA utilize its strengths and opportunities to overcome its weaknesses and threats? Strategic service enhancement and adjustment facilitate the implementation of different response measures. In particular, multi-disciplinary engagement with concerted effort plays the key role. This includes not only the contributions by all colleagues from the frontline, the backend, and the Board members, but also the support from the Central Government and HKSAR Government. We shall look back, look ahead, and continue to stay vigilant at all times.