In line with private hospitals assessed under National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, Government hospitals in Coimbatore district are gearing up to undergo accreditation under National Quality Assurance Programme (NQAP).
This is the first time Government hospitals – primary, secondary and tertiary level hospitals – in Coimbatore are getting ready for NQAP accreditation.
Sensitisation
To begin with, medical officers of all the hospitals have undergone sensitisation and training programme.
S. Kannan, Joint Director of Medical and Rural Health Services (in charge), Coimbatore, said that NQAP accreditation would help Government hospital improve their standards as they strived towards the goal.
“The accreditation is a continuing process as hospitals will be assessed every year under NQAP. Hospitals that score 70 % and above will be given the accreditation in the final assessment. Up to 18 departments in a hospital will undergo the accreditation for various standards. The hospital will be given the accreditation only if all the departments achieve the score 70 % or above. Each department will be assessed for sets of standards,” said Dr. Kannan.
The accreditation will be conducted at various levels. The initial stages of assessment will be done by an internal team trained for NQAP.
Later, a regional team or external team will assess the performance of the hospital and recommend for State level assessment if the score is 70% or above.
National level
The national level assessment takes place at the final stage when a hospital is recommended by State level quality assurance committee. The accreditation will complete by the end of the fiscal every year.
“A hospital will get an aid of ₹ 5,000 per bed for a year up on achieving NQAP accreditation. If the hospital is a 300-bedded facility, it gets ₹ 15 lakh for a year. The aid can be used for improving the facility and medical care,” said Dr. Kannan.
