Karnataka government‘s directorate of health and family welfare has now sought the certification of National Accreditation Board of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) to facilitate and endorse quality care and safety to patients extended by its medical centres across the state.


The proposal for NABH is part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme for which a budget allocation of around Rs.30 crore was made available from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.


The state health department has now approached a consultant who is conducting a ‘Gap Analysis’ to identify disparities between allocation and integration of inputs. It has identified 10 district hospitals located at Tumkur, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Kolar, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Hubli, Chikamagalur and Bangalore’s KC General Hospitals for NABH certification.


In addition, it has also shortlisted 205 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to be audited for ISO certification.


There is a team of principal assessors who are now training doctors and ascertaining the standards of infrastructure along with levels of adherence of the good clinical practices, stated the NRHM Karnataka mission director.


This is for the first time in the state that the government hospitals are seeking accreditation. There are already two state government hospitals in Tamil Nadu and one under the Kerala government which have received accreditation, S Selva Kumar, mission director, NRHM, Department of Health and Family Welfare told Pharmabiz.


When the accreditation is done, there could be regular external monitoring. It would help to improve the image of the facility and be on par with the private hospitals. There would be constant external monitoring after fulfilling the protocols and guidelines to ensure that the high quality patient care is delivered at these district hospital, stated Kumar.


The NABH standards are benchmarked with the best international standards. NABH is a constituent of the Board of Quality Council of India and set up under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “The accreditation would make a strong focus on patient rights and benefits besides address issues of safety control and prevention of infection in hospitals and best practices like special care for critical patients,” stated Kumar.


So long it was the only the private and corporate hospitals which sought accreditation but the need to certify the quality of care at government hospitals is an emerging trend.


A dedicated Quality Assurance Cell is being created within the health department. After the accreditation, there will be regular monitoring of the hospital including inspection by a specialized team to renew the certification, informed Kumar.


As on July 25, 2011, the state has 8,870 sub-centres located in small villages, 2,310 primary health centres, 180 community health centres, 146 taluka hospitals and 17 district hospitals employing 44,000 personnel.