Hospitals in HCM City achieve quality standards

HCM City (VNA) – More and more public and private hospitals in HCM City have taken efforts to reach criteria for quality standards issued by the Health Ministry, according to the city's Department of Health.

The 83 criteria in five categories cover quality improvement, professional activities, human resource development, patient-centred health examination and treatment, and specialised criteria for each ward.

Sixty-two of 93 hospitals in HCM City have received an average score of three of the five categories, an increase of 23 compared to last year.

The ministry has published on its website a ranking of hospitals based on the 83 criteria. The rankings will help the public make decisions about their healthcare.

A score of four was received by People's Hospital No.115, Gia Dinh People's Hospital, Paediatrics Hospital No.1 and 2, Tu Du, Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital, Thu Duc District Hospital and Traditional Medicine Institute.

Ten hospitals had achieved effective quality management, Dr Nguyen Thi Thoa, deputy head of the department's medical affairs, said at a conference reviewing the management of hospital quality held on January 10 in HCM City.

For instance, People's Hospital No. 115 and Hoan My Hospital had used bracelets with different colours to help identify patients.

The Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital had set up a system to report errors, and the Paediatrics Hospital No.1 had used videos to train for infection control.

The remaining 31 have a score under three, Thoa said, adding that hospital leaders should strengthen implementation of quality improvement.

"If not, they could face difficulties," he said.

Dr Vuong Anh Tai, head of the department's board for survey of patient satisfaction, said that, thanks to the programme on quality improvement, patient satisfaction this year was higher than last year's.

Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the department's deputy head, said the council for management of quality at hospitals, which was set up two year ago, helped it monitor, discover and offer warnings for errors at hospitals in order to improve quality.

Under this programme, more and more hospitals were expected to raise their quality in the future, Thuong said.-VNA