Manama: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) in Qatar has announced it’s planning to secure international accreditation for all primary healthcare centres in the country, as well as private clinics and hospitals, a senior health official has said.
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the leading healthcare provider in Qatar, has been successful in getting all its hospitals accredited by the US-based Joint Commission International (JCI). However, the accreditation is limited to hospitals only.
“JCI accredits only hospitals. We’re working with another leading international agency to evaluate the services of all primary health centres and private healthcare facilities and get them accredited by the agency,” the official from Medical Licensing Department (MLD) at SCH, was quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula as saying.
The endorsement would be an important step in upgrading the quality of services at all of these facilities and the agency would also help the MLD to develop its own accreditation tools, he said.
Upon completion of the project, all private clinics and hospitals will have to obtain accreditation from an internationally recognised agency or be accredited by the SCH.
“Such accreditation will be made mandatory for all private healthcare facilities in the future, to ensure the quality of their services. No facility that fails to get this accreditation will be allowed to operate in the country, especially after the national insurance scheme is implemented,” said the official.
The primary healthcare sector, following its new status as an independent entity, separate from the HMC, is now in the process of improving its standards through a wide range of measures, under the supervision of SCH.
