Tuesday 30 / April / 2024
Muscat: Nizwa, Rustaq and Al Masarra Hospitals have received Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Framework (PSFHF) certificates from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Directorate General of Quality Assurance Center (DGQAC), recently received certificates from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the implementation of the Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Framework (PSFHF) in Nizwa, Rustaq and Al Masarrah hospitals.
The event took place under the auspices of H.E. Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, MOH Undersecretary for Planning and Health Regulation, and in the presence of H.E. Dr Jean Jabbour, WHO Representative to Oman, as well as Dr Qamra Al-Sariri, DGQAC Director General—representatives from the three hospitals and WHO expert consultants also attended.
This recognition came based on the final evaluation of the hospitals by experts from the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Dr. Qamra Al-Sariri, DGQAC Director General, explained that the Sultanate of Oman is among the advanced countries in the field of patient safety and continually evolves standards and practices related to this matter. At the end of 2015, Oman implemented the Patient Safety Friendly Hospital initiative and continued to implement the standards related to service safety.
Dr Al-Sariri added that the Ministry of Health aims to implement this initiative in all government and private hospitals as part of the five-year health development plan. The initiative was launched in 31 government and private hospitals, including 16 healthcare facilities internationally recognised as patient safety-friendly institutions.
Efforts are also underway to implement the standards in primary care, represented by health centres in all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman.
Furthermore, Dr. Qamra stressed that this initiative, overseen by the Quality Assurance Center, encourages safe healthcare practices in healthcare facilities and provides a comprehensive set of standards and frameworks to enable hospitals to provide safer patient care. It assesses hospital performance regarding patient safety and enhances staff capabilities in this field. Additionally, it empowers patients through activities that contribute to improving healthcare.
The vision of the Ministry of Health focuses on "developing an integrated healthcare system that provides high-quality healthcare services according to the best international standards." The DGQAC Director General indicated that the vision of the DGQAC at the Ministry of Health is for healthcare institutions to be a national reference with a global standard in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety.
Healthcare institutions in the Sultanate of Oman have improved the level of patient safety by providing healthcare services at all stages of delivery. MOH and government and private healthcare institutions have collaborated with international institutions and organizations, notably the World Health Organization, in developing policies, plans, and healthcare interventions across various fields, working in an integrated manner to enhance healthcare delivery.
