The Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), an entity that regulates and monitors standard of healthcare of health facilities, has accorded formal recognition to SafeCare quality improvement standards and methodologies for assessing health facilities in Ghana.
The recognition was announced in a letter signed by the Registrar of HeFRA, Dr. Philip A. Bannor, on June 20, 2022.
SafeCare was accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare External Evaluation Association to provide innovative healthcare standards, surveyor training and a grading system for quality of care.
The letter stated: “HeFRA’s recognition of SafeCare stems from an understanding of the SafeCare’s standards and methodology for quality measurement and improvement, and an acknowledgment of the adoption of the programme among its participating healthcare facilities in the country”.
The SafeCare programme has demonstrated continuous commitment to helping healthcare facilities and networks to bridge quality gaps by supporting them to measure, monitor, and improve their services using innovative solutions.
In a media interview, Dr. Bannor indicated that HeFRA’s strategic partnership with SafeCare offers another quality improvement tool to ensure that healthcare facilities provide safe and better outcomes for individuals seeking care.
He said the recognition formed part of HeFRA’s efforts in ensuring that healthcare facilities in Ghana provide quality service to everyone.
“SafeCare certification and accreditation is a stamp of approval indicating that a health facility has met certain internationally recognized quality and safety standards for patient care.”
“We at HeFRA welcome that extra layer of care standard or scrutiny that SafeCare brings into the picture to ensure that errors do not happen in health delivery and clinical care,” he stated.
Healthcare providers in developing countries like Ghana often struggle with patient’s safety and quality demands and have limited data and insights on overall quality.
Therefore, the SafeCare’s quality improvement standards support their progress by helping them measure, rate, benchmark, and improve their services using innovative solutions.
Dr. Bannor stated that the SafeCare Standards and Methodology will augment the National Standards in ensuring best practices to promote quality care for patients.
HeFRA would continue to enforce the national standards as mandated by law and where there are gaps, policies will be formulated to address them.
The Registrar of HeFRA stated that it will continue to institute measures to prevent errors and promote a culture of safety and learning.
The enforcement of these standards for quality care would go a long way to avoid mistakes in health delivery.
He said: “If you look at some of their best practices, it will prevent the patients from getting medications that were not written for them, or the patients may be allergic to that medication.
“How do we ensure that patients do not get the wrong blood transfusion? How do we ensure that you limit infections by following infection prevention and control measures? “.
Dr. Bannor stated that he was particularly impressed with the level of commitment of SafeCare to improving healthcare in an emerging economy.
“For SafeCare to identify Ghana as one of the many places it could go and spend its precious resources, talents, and ideas is the most welcome information”, he said.
Dr. Bannor announced that in 2023, HeFRA would institute a system for ranking health facilities in the country based on standards, and that, HeFRA would be able to identify and publish the best-performing facilities, especially the best facility in maternity care or pediatric care, etc. in a region.
In a bid to encourage healthcare facilities to prioritize service delivery, HeFRA is currently liaising with the National Health Insurance Scheme to provide incentives to institutions that consistently offer top-rated care to their patients.
The SafeCare quality certification and accreditation programme is critical to help facilities improve and deliver safe and quality care, which will put them in top rating.
The SafeCare international Standards evaluate healthcare facilities’ systems and processes to measure and rate the levels of risks and fluctuations in service delivery and outcomes.
The rating is assigned ranks from SafeCare Level one to Level five, Level one being the lowest (indicative of severe risks and highest fluctuations in the quality of services delivered) and Level five being the highest (indicative of a facility that has established continuous monitoring and implementation of standards and guidelines, with a significant reduction in risks and higher consistency in standardized service delivery).
Beyond the international rating and certification, SafeCare also helps healthcare facilities through its digitally facilitated methodology to improve its quality and patient safety.
The SafeCare’s goal is to establish the PharmAccess Foundation, to inspire the improvement of quality and safety in healthcare delivery through innovative approaches such as the use of digital solutions.
PharmAccess works with an integrated approach that addresses both the demand and supply side of the health care system and uses the opportunities that mobile technology and data provider to leapfrog development in health markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
The organisation aims to inspire viable and resilient health markets that provide access to care for millions of people in Africa.
Providers in emerging healthcare markets like Ghana often face basic problems: staff and supply shortages, inadequate infrastructure, and poor resources.
Setting and improving quality standards in these challenging environments is the central mission of SafeCare.
The ambition of SafeCare is to create a global platform of organisations and people willing to pursue innovative approaches to improve clinical quality, using transformative digital solutions to challenge the status quo and strengthen trust in the healthcare system.
This is achieved through three core values of transparency, collaboration, and building value.
