Early Morning Meeting of the ISQua African Community of Practice.

Jacqui Stewart and Dr Sabelile Tenza from North West University. Dr Tenza is taking over the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety conference at Africa Health this year. Jacqui had done it for many years but is handing over the baton.

Jacqui Stewart with colleagues from Namibia.

Jacqui Stewart with Pinkie Letsholo, Gofaone Dolly Keitihetse & Caroline Mmmallori Basupang all from the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Botswana.

Patrick Gauchi from Malawi with Jacqui at ISQua. Patrick is now in charge of 7th Day Adventist hospitals in Southern Africa, including Botswana and Namibia.

The big announcement at the ISQua conference was that COHSASA was one of only a few accrediting bodies that achieved ‘AAA’ ISQuaEEA accreditation as an organisation, for its standards and its surveyor training programme from 2023 to 2027.

The conference went off without a hitch – even though Netcare CEO Richard Friedland’s suggestions on how to mobilise financial resources to make NHI more achievable – “Viable and Near-Term Opportunities to Providing Enhanced Healthcare in South Africa” – may not have been warmly received by the incumbent Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.

There were many highlights in the programme – one of them being a talk by Craig Rosewarne, the MD of Wolfpack Information Risk – a specialist firm established in 2011 that assists countries, companies and communities to defend against cyber threats. His talk had delegates riveted to their seats learning how cunning and able cybercriminals are becoming in scamming and stealing from internet users.

There were several sessions that considered pragmatic steps to address inequity and improve healthcare access from different perspectives – from the view of primary care, dialysis, cancer care (a hugely informative address by health activist, Mark Heywood) and from the viewpoint of human resources for health.

Dr Melanie Stander, General Manager of Clinical Services for Mediclinic moderated a fascinating panel discussion “The Voice of the Patient” which exposed weaknesses in hearing the patient’s voice and a way forward for multidisciplinary groups in the healing process.

It was an important, informative and sobering conference: watch out for the one in 2025.

CEO of COHSASA, Jacqui Stewart at our stand at the HASA 2024 Conference sporting the new corporate look.

An audience at the Sandton Conference Centre listen to a panel discussion on the “Voice of the Patient”.

Delegates interact at the exhibition at the HASA conference at the Sandton Conference Centre.

Day One and Day Two of the conference were pleasantly interrupted by a night out at Katy’s Palace Bar. The entertainment was superb like this violinist in a harness hanging from the ceiling wowing the crowd.

Jacqui Stewart, CEO of COHSASA,  has been appointed to the steering committee of the re-instatement of the African Community of Practice.

After a break of 4 years (!), ISQua is excited to re-launch the African Community of Practice! We invite you to our first webinar taking place on 5th September at 12:00 Accra time/15:00 Nairobi time. Join the Steering Committee – Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Chika Odioemene, Jacqui Stewart, Elom Otchi, Ruthpearl Ng’ang’a, Rhoda Kalondu, Salomey Akpariba, Stephen Balogun and Wafa Allouche – to learn about the plans for this new Community and find out how you can contribute!

Register here👉 bit.ly/AFCOP2024 👈

Jacqui Stewart, CEO of COHSASA, presented the accreditation certificate to Hospital Manager Anel Scheepers. Stewart expressed heartfelt congratulations, emphasizing the difficulty and value of achieving accreditation: “Achieving accreditation is not easy, and if it were, it might not be worth it!” She highlighted that the hospital now meets international standards, standing among the “very best.”

“For health practitioners, this accreditation is particularly meaningful as it signifies adherence to the best guidelines and protocols,” Stewart said. “The challenge we’re seeing currently is staff attitudes, with too many entering the field for a job rather than a passion to help people. However, Cure Day Hospitals are an exception. Our surveyors report that you consistently do the right things, the right way, the first time.

“Having achieved accreditation three times, the fourth will be much easier! You are embedding quality in everything you do, making it part of your daily routine without conscious effort or panic over missing documents.

“This is a real achievement. Congratulations and well done.”

With the management team of the hospital in attendance, Ms Jacqui Stewart, CEO of COHSASA (seated front middle) presents the accreditation certificates to Johan Stadler Hospital General Manager of Mediclinic Durbanville (seated to her left) and to Yvette Jordaan, Day Clinic Manager of Mediclinic Durbanville Day Clinic (seated to her right).

Jacqui Stewart, the CEO of COHSASA, presented the certificates, congratulating Hospital General Manager, Johan Stadler, and Day Clinic Manager, Yvette Jordaan, for leading the process that achieved a compliance rating of 97 out of a possible 100 with COHSASA standards. Stewart noted that Mediclinic Durbanville’s repeated accreditations demonstrate a commitment to continuous quality improvement.

“It emphasises the importance of integrating quality improvement, safety, and excellence in patient care into the very DNA of healthcare facilities,” she said.

A highly qualified nurse herself, Stewart emphasised the importance of nurses in all hospitals embodying compassionate responsibility to their patients, saying, “We must instil in all our nursing team members, the sense of vocation to deliver the best care we can to make patient-centred care a reality”.

She thanked all staff for everything they had done for their patients and their commitment to quality – especially during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stewart also underscored the importance of achieving and maintaining standards. “What matters is that the long-term application of standards in a healthcare facility results in quality improvement ingrained as part of routine activity. It is not a ‘wallpapering’ exercise to impress COHSASA surveyors” she concluded.

Mediclinic Nelspruit has been accredited by COHSASA for four years.

Equally exciting is the accreditation of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali (Chuk) in Rwanda’s capital city which has also achieved a two-year accreditation award.

What do these awards mean?

Health facilities that have been accredited by COHSASA meet extremely rigorous international standards, signifying that patients attending these facilities can expect to receive safe, quality care. To see more about accreditation, look at www.cohsasa.co.za

COHSASA is a not-for-profit company (NPC) based in Cape Town. Here is the list of the latest accreditation awards conferred at a recent Board Meeting of COHSASA.

COHSASA itself is accredited by the ISQua EEA as are its standards. COHSASA is the only accrediting body for healthcare facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa recognised by the ISQua EEA.

Healthcare facilities that initially enter the programme and meet standards are awarded two-year accreditations and as the journey in quality improvement continues, awards of longer duration are given. A four-year accreditation award from COHSASA should signal to patients that a facility has sustained an excellent level of standards over a significant period of time.

All facilities that receive an accreditation award must undergo an interim survey halfway through the period to ensure that standards are being maintained.

Pictured from the left: Dr Zewdie Mulisa Deksissa (High-Quality Health Systems Team Lead – QHA), Aden Adams (Technical manager), Helét Mostert (Pharmacy manager), Dr Mohammed Shikur Mussa (Vice President of the Ethiopian Healthcare Federation), Petra Sewing (COHSASA Quality Advisor/Surveyor), Dr Yeneneh Getachew (Senior Quality Management Advisor – IHI/QHA), Dr Ayele Teshome (State Minister, Ministry of Health), Henri van Waart (Hospital General Manager), Dr Meseret Bekele (Director General – Institute of Ethiopian Standards), Henok Hailu (Public Health Specialist, Ministry of Health), Marinda Peacock (Patient Administration Manager), Corné Bekker (Doctor Relationship Manager), Zewdu Ayele (Team Lead, Ethiopian Accreditation Service) and Jacorie Visagie (Patient Experience Manager).

The high-level Ethiopian delegation visited Mediclinic Paarl to learn more about the benefits and value of accreditation.

Deena Naidoo, Group Nursing Services Manager, Lenmed (standing) with from left: Jacqui Stewart, CEO of COHSASA; Dr Kim Faure Project Lead: SECURE Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership; Dr Ziyanda Mgugudo-Sello Head of Unit: Professional Services SA Medical Association and Professor Natalie Schellack, Head of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Pretoria, and Editor of the South Africa Pharmacy Journal.

One of these – the ABBY health station – can measure your blood pressure, BMI, heart age, body composition (water, muscles, fat), oxygen saturation and many other features. All you had to do was stand on a platform for 180 seconds!

COHSASA, as the knowledge partner, had the privilege of hosting the Hospital Show, which was lodged in one corner of the exhibition hall and attracted quite an audience, depending on the subject matter being discussed. The overall theme of the conference was “Ensuring Patient Safety in the drive for ESG, where ESG is an acronym for Environmental, Social, and Governance indicators.

It attracted 135 exhibits and over 3000 delegates and it is predicted that by 2025, these figures will increase. Healthcare professionals, hospital administrators and industry leaders mingled and swopped business cards as they explored the exhibits or listened to panel discussions featuring top speakers in their field.

Some of the facts emerging were alarming: Dr Natalie Schellack, for example, told the Hospital Show conference audience that Africa has the highest incidence and highest death rate of antimicrobial resistance in the world and that one in six medicines in Africa are substandard of falsified.

Speakers were drawn from both the public and private sector and from a local and international base. Of particular interest was keynote speaker Dr Joseph Williamson’s assertion that doctors are the most difficult to persuade about the benefits of quality improvement and accreditation, but he confessed that he is a most serious convert.

Equally fascinating was a talk by Carmen Menéndez Calzada from the Geneva Sustainability Centre on equipping leaders with skills, tools, and actionable knowledge to advance on their sustainability journey.

The event was carefully crafted to ensure that delegates had the chance to connect with the best suppliers and services providers serving the hospital sector in South Africa, SADC and Africa.

Dr Joseph Williamson, Healthcare Consultant, IFC who gave the keynote address with the CEO of COHSASA, Jacqui Stewart.

Jacqui Stewart and Dr Louis Alekwe, Executive Director of Lily Hospital in Lagos.

A section of the audience attending the Hospital Show’s conference hosted by COHSASA, “Ensuring Patient Safety in the Drive for ESG”.

Dr Karen Nel who spoke out strongly about the need to take care of health workers before they can take care of patients.

Drawing a picture of legal and regulatory perspectives with regards to ESG: (from left): Dr Siphiwe Mndaweni, CEO Office of Health Standards Compliance, Dr Brad Beira Director – Consulting & Risk Services: PWC and Dr Morgan Mkhatshwa, Head of Social Impact, Lenmed.

Moving an impressive 20 points from 69 at the baseline survey of the hospital to 89 at the external survey, the COHSASA team reported that excellent progress had been made at The Bank Hospital with the development of organisational documented processes across all departments. The surveyors congratulated the hospital and commended it for achieving substantial compliance with the accreditation standards over a relatively short preparation phase – just under a year. The hospital entered the accreditation programme in January 2023 and had a peer-reviewed external survey to measure compliance with standards in December of the same year.

Most of the service areas of the hospital scored well into the 90s. The hospital’s achievement is even more extraordinary given that after its completion in 2017, it stood empty for two years. It was eventually commissioned in 2021. It is owned by the Bank of Ghana and is operated by Lenmed Health.

The Bank Hospital offers a wide range of specialised services including a catheterisation laboratory, a dialysis unit, and MRI and CT scan units. The hospital has recently performed its first renal transplant, with plans to expand this service in future. Critical care facilities are also currently being expanded.

Mrs Jennifer Moodley, the Quality Manager of The Bank Hospital, who led the process and helped to achieve this success said, “It was a tough journey. As a team we kept positive, we collaborated, and we worked well towards a common goal. We set timelines and got buy-in from all staff in both clinical and non-clinical areas.

“Our target was to move from a position of non-compliance with the COHSASA standards, to partial compliance and then to full compliance. We used the COHSASA Quality Information System – CoQIS – to track our progress and monitor trends.

“The use of CoQIS created the consistency to drive quality processes and procedures and providing continuous feedback and engagement with heads of departments and unit managers helped us along the way.

“I think the key to our success was that the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Indren Poovan, the Medical Director, Dr Charlotte Osafo and the Chief Financial Officer, Ms Grace Awotwe were committed and supportive all the way through.

“Being accredited elevates The Bank Hospital’s platform to an international level,” says Mrs Moodley.

Mr Indren Poovan, manager of The Bank Hospital says, “I found this process of accreditation enlightening. I was not sure if my staff would embrace this new way of doing things as there are no other currently accredited healthcare facilities in Ghana. I was suitably impressed by the manner in which all categories of staff embraced the accreditation process and, more importantly, how all staff members took ownership of their responsibilities.

“Because the accreditation process cuts across the entire hospital, all staff members were involved and had to be aligned to achieve this common objective.”

Mr. Poovan praised the staff for embracing the accreditation process and taking ownership of their responsibilities. He highlighted the positive impact of accreditation on patient safety, quality of care, patient satisfaction, staff morale, and stakeholder confidence. Mr. Poovan believes that accreditation will lead to improved outcomes, reduced errors, streamlined processes, and an overall more efficient healthcare environment at The Bank Hospital.

The team at The Bank Hospital in Accra, Ghana that drove the accreditation process pictured with the COHSASA surveyors who conducted the external evaluation. Front row (from left): Ernest Mireku, Louisa Asamoah, Sonia Amponsah, Dr Gloria Ansa – Deputy Medical Director, Dr Charlotte Osafo – Medical Director, Indren Poovan – Chief Executive Officer, Dr Giel van Schalkwyk, Chief Surveyor of COHSASA, Ms Firdousa Hassan, COHSASA surveyor, Jennifer Moodley, Quality Manager at the hospital and Chief Financial Officer, Grace Awotwe. Back row (from left): Kuda Chihoto, Michael Botchway, Prince Rockson, Vivian Tetteh, Samuel Gyampoh, Stella Govender, Dr Lydia Opoku-Ahene and COHSASA Surveyor, Mr. Riel Le Roux.

The finance team.

CEO Indren Poovan (on the right) congratulates Prince Rockson, head of the Radiology Unit and his team on reaching compliance with COHSASA standards.