COHSASA strengthens health systems through standards, quality improvement and accreditation
Next time in Africa: A colourful parade of dancing and drums in Kuala Lumpur welcomed delegates who will be attending the international ISQua conference in Cape Town in 2019. See story HERE.
The Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa (COHSASA) is the only internationally accredited quality improvement and accreditation body for healthcare facilities in Africa. In the past 23 years over 600 facilities throughout the continent have entered the COHSASA programme to improve the quality and safety of healthcare provided to patients. By making health systems more resilient, COHSASA assists a range of healthcare facilities in Southern Africa to meet and maintain quality standards. This range includes hospitals, clinics, general and family practitioners, rehabilitation centres, hospices, emergency centres, ambulances and laundries. Standards are also being developed for individual services such as sedation units and home-based care. There is a strong focus on building capacity to help healthcare professionals measure themselves against the standards. The COHSASA approach teaches healthcare workers how to monitor improvements using quality improvement methods, internationally accredited standards and a web-based information system.
Strictly applied quality improvement methods can improve patient safety and the quality of care by identifying deficiencies, guiding interventions and monitoring progress. COHSASA's web-based information system - CoQIS - identifies deficiencies and weaknesses in healthcare facilities and creates prioritised quality improvement plans to overcome them. The data generated helps authorities to provide cost-effective interventions. COHSASA holds a fourth consecutive accreditation by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). The current ISQua accreditation award is valid until December 2018. ISQua is the global authority responsible for ensuring that health accreditors themselves meet standards. "The ISQua International Accreditation Programme provides a mechanism for external evaluation and standard-settings organisations to assure themselves that their standards, their surveyor training programmes and that they, themselves, as an external evaluation organisation, meet international best practice requirements and to demonstrate this to their clients, funders and stakeholders." (http://ISQua.org) COHSASA's hospital standards (Edition 6.7) and its surveyor training programme are currently accredited by ISQua. “There is consistent evidence that shows that accreditation programs improve the process of care provided by healthcare services. There is considerable evidence to show that accreditation programs improve clinical outcomes of a wide spectrum of clinical conditions. Accreditation programs should be supported as a tool to improve the quality of healthcare services.“ Alkhenizan, Abdullah & Shaw, Charles. (2011). Impact of Accreditation on the Quality of Healthcare Services: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Annals of Saudi medicine. 31. 407-16. 10.4103/0256-4947.83204. Impact of Accreditation on the Quality of Healthcare Services, A Systematic Review of the Literature BBBEE Compliance COHSASA is a Level Eight BBBEE Contributor. Click here for current certificate.
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To assist healthcare facilities in Africa and other developing countries to deliver quality healthcare to their clients through sustained improvement using internationally recognised standards, patient safety principles and operational research.
The Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa works in the field of improving quality and accreditation in healthcare facilities.
COHSASA is based in Cape Town, South Africa. While many of its employees are based at the headquarters in Pinelands, staff members are always in the field, and this workplace is spread throughout Africa.
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