124 HOSPITALS, INCLUDING 51 GOVT HOSPITALS, RECEIVE MSQH ACCREDITATION

MELAKA, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- A total of 124 hospitals, including 51 government hospitals, nationwide have received accreditation and met with the evaluation standards set by the Malaysia Society For Quality in Health (MSQH) as of Oct 31.

MSQH chief executive officer Datuk Dr Heric Corray said from that number, half of the hospitals involved received the full MSQH accreditation certification status while the others are in the waiting process because it involves several procedures that take between three and five months after evaluation.

He said the two main aspects that are important for obtaining the accreditation are the quality of healthcare services and patient safety.

"The government strongly encourages and promotes the MSQH certification in all existing government hospitals, and the government has also awarded a contract to MSQH for a period of four to five years for all those hospitals to obtain the certification," he told reporters here today.

"It is not difficult to get this MSQH certification…for hospitals applying for accreditation for the first time, MSQH will provide training, and usually after 12 months, hospitals involved will receive the certification.” 

He said this after the presentation ceremony of the MSQH Full Accreditation to the Putra Specialist Hospital Melaka, which was also attended by the state Health, Human Resources and Unity Committee chairman Datuk Ngwe Hee Sem.

Dr Corray said the validity period of the certification is four years, but monitoring and surprise evaluations will be conducted by the MSQH throughout that period to ensure that the accredited hospitals continue to comply with the established aspects or criteria, and if they fail, the accreditation can be revoked.

He said through the awarding of this accreditation certificate, patients and customers trust or are confident that the hospitals involved will provide services that meet national or international standards.

"MSQH has been recognised by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) since 2008, and recently MSQH has been evaluated by ISQua as part of our commitment to ensure that MSQH accreditation standards aligned with international benchmarks."

"The ISQua assessment process is very important in strengthening the credibility and transparency of our practices, in addition to proving that MSQH is recognised not only at the national level but also at the international level," he also said.

For the record, the MSQH has been the only national health accreditation body for the past 25 years and it continues to grow.

MSQH has now released the Sixth Edition of the Hospital Accreditation Standards in addition to editions for Chronic Dialysis Treatment, Dental Clinics and Medical Clinics.

-- BERNAMA