DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) is working on new licensing rules and standards for private clinics and hospitals as part of efforts to raise the quality of healthcare in the country.
The new licensing standards will be linked to the national accreditation standards that are also in the making, a senior SCH official has disclosed. The pilot phase of the National Licensing and Accreditation Programme was launched on Sunday.
“The existing licensing rules were prepared several decades ago and since then the healthcare sector has witnessed massive changes. There is a need for new rules and standards to raise the quality of services and meet demands of the rapid developments,” Dr Jamal Rashid Al Khanji, director of the Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Department at SCH and acting CEO of the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) told this daily yesterday.
He said the new standards will encompass all aspects of healthcare services such as infrastructure, facilities, patient safety, hygiene, quality of care, medical records, medical practice, customer care, among others. All new and existing facilities will be required to comply with the new rules and standards, once they are in place. This will be a necessary precondition for renewal of licence.
“New facilities will be licensed only after meeting these requirements, while the existing facilities will be given a grace period to upgrade their standards, if they are not up to the mark,” said Al Khanji. He said, in a unique initiative globally, Qatar will be linking the licensing standards to the national accreditation standards. Accreditation has been made mandatory for all healthcare facilities in the country. Accordingly, several public and private hospitals have either obtained accreditation from recognised international bodies or are in the process of getting that.
“All health facilities must be accredited either by an international body recognised by ISQUA (International Society for Quality Healthcare) or by the competent authorities in Qatar. We are developing national accreditation standards, closely linked to the licensing standards,” said Al Khanji. There will be basic standards of accreditation, as well as additional standards. The basic standards will be mandatory while the facilities can opt for a higher level of accreditation to raise their profile in the market.
The national accreditation standards will cover the dental services as well that are normally exempted from accreditation all over the world, he added. He said facilities that have obtained an international accreditation will not be required to apply for a national accreditation.
“They can choose between the two but obtaining an international accreditation would be much more expensive than the national accreditation, once it is implemented,” he added.The Peninsula
