6 Kerala hospitals get top certification
TRIVANDRUM: Six more government hospitals in Kerala have received the recognition of National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certification, taking the total number to 80.
The NQAS are currently available for primary health centres (PHC), community health centres (CHC), the referral centre for every four PHCS, and district hospitals.
The state’s health minister, KK Shailaja, said the public hospitals ge ting recognition for best practices nationally while batling COVID-19 was a mater of pride for Kerala.
“Kerala now retains the first 12 positions among India’s best primary health centres,” she said in a statement here on Saturday.
“This is a recognition for the health warriors who are batling the pandemic in Kerala. Now we have 80 PHCS figuring on the NQAS list.”
The new additions are PHCS in Matool (Kannur), Chat han no or(kol lam ), pan an gad(k oz hiko de ), vaz ho or (Kotayam), Munderi (Kannur) and Vazhikkadavu (Malappuram).
On the NQAS list are three district and four taluk hospitals, five social health centres, six urban primary health centres and 62 family health centres.
First on the list nationally are family health centres i not asekh ar am an gala min the state capital here and Kayyur in Kasaragod district with 99 per cent score.
The public health centres with NQAS will get Rs200,000 each and others Rs10,000 each per bed as an annual incentive from the federal government for further development.
The federal government developed NQAS keeping in the specific requirements for public health facilities as well as global best practices. Standards are primarily meant for providers to assess their own quality for improvement through predefined standards and to bring up their facilities for certification.
They are broadly arranged under eight areas of concern — service provision, patient rights, inputs, support services, clinical care, infection control, quality management and outcome.
These standards meet the International Society for Quality Healthcare (ISQUA) benchmarks in comprehensiveness, objectivity, evidence and rigour of development. Launched in 2013, the quality certification program aims at recognising the good performing facilities as well as improving the credibility of public hospitals in the community.
Certification is provided against NQAS on meeting predetermined criteria. Certified facilities are also provided financial incentives as recognition of their good work.