Oman plan to certify hospitals for patient safety

Muscat: A plan to certify hospitals for patient safety and quality control is being worked out.
Speaking at the Health Expo held at the Oman Exhibition Centre, Samra Salim Al Barwani, Director of Risk Management and Patient Safety at Ministry of Health, said that the ministry in coordination with the World Health Organisation is to start issuing certifications to hospitals in the country based on the level of patient safety friendly practices.
“The Ministry of Health is going to introduce a national certification which would exhibit the level of patient safety and quality control practised by healthcare organisations,” she said, speaking about quality control in Oman at the
conference.
She also detailed a four-step plan in order to achieve this goal.
“The initiative is to spell out the guidelines for hospitals in order to achieve the specified mark in patient safety followed by a survey checklist given to the hospitals, which would allow them to rate themselves based on the specified criteria. Once the hospitals achieve the standards, MoH with the help of WHO and experts in the country will pay an evaluation visit to the hospital. The officials will then decide the certification to give to the hospital,” explained Al Barwani. She mentioned that this process and certification could lead to more trust of people in the healthcare facilities within Oman.
The major reason for such an initiative according to Samra was the malpractices and ignorance by healthcare officials in hospitals in Oman that puts life of patients at risk and reduces the trust rating of Omani healthcare industry.
The planned programme is not mandatory for the hospitals, whether private or public, but having a certification could help promote hospitals.
It is planned in such that it does not carry any financial challenges as experts from Omani hospitals would volunteer to be a part of this committee conducting evaluation.
The whole process would be under WHO officials who would help standardise the complete system in Oman. Prof. Heinz Zeichhardt, Professor of virology - Charité – University Medicine Berlin was in complete support of this effort by MoH highlighting the advantages of such certifications.
“This could help in organisation having better safety standards and procuring equipments that are reliable. The process could also help Omani hospitals being certified by reputable international agencies, thereby leaving no margin of error by healthcare professionals,” he noted.