COHSASA Standards: Setting the Benchmark for Quality

Our ISQuaEEA accredited standards

For over 30 years, COHSASA has led the way in developing and implementing healthcare standards across Africa, ensuring safety, excellence, and resilience in healthcare delivery. Our internationally accredited standards are tailored to meet the diverse needs of healthcare facilities, from primary care facilities to acute hospitals and specialised services. They are developed in line with the requirements of ISQuaEEA.

Healthcare Facility Standards – Ambulatory Care

Designed for clinics and outpatient facilities, these standards focus on efficiency, patient safety, and quality in non-hospital settings, ensuring consistent care delivery.

Healthcare Facility Standards – Inpatient Care

A comprehensive set of standards covering hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and other inpatient settings to drive quality improvements and meet international accreditation benchmarks.

Palliative Care Standards

Developed to guide facilities in providing compassionate, patient-centred palliative and end-of-life care, these standards emphasise dignity, comfort, and holistic support.

A long
track recordCOHSASA has been developing healthcare facility accreditation standards for over 30 years.

Our standards, developed with working clinicians and key stakeholders, are designed to improve and maintain healthcare quality across Africa. For healthcare facilities in low- and middle- income settings which face many challenges, our standards provide a blueprint for good practice and enable facility teams to improve at their own pace. Our graded recognition system rewards agreed milestones, fostering a culture of quality en route to full accreditation.

COHSASA Healthcare Facility Standards(Second Edition)

These standards can be used in different types of healthcare facilities providing either inpatient or ambulatory care. There are ‘generic’ standards that apply to all healthcare facilities such as governance and leadership, risk management and infection prevention and control. There are standards specific to the services provided, including clinical services, support services, technical and hotel services.

COHSASA Healthcare Facility Standards- Ambulatory Care (Second Edition)

Ambulatory standards focus on facilities that provide diagnostic, preventive, and treatment services where patients do not require an overnight stay.

For ambulatory care, COHSASA’s standards ensure that facilities provide safe, accessible, and efficient services for patients receiving care outside of hospital. These standards address the unique needs of outpatient settings, such as shorter patient encounters, preventive care, follow-up procedures, and patient education. Key areas include safe prescribing practices, patient flow management, infection prevention, and the readiness to handle emergencies. These standards also promote comprehensive patient record-keeping, continuity in care, and effective coordination with other healthcare providers for seamless patient experiences.

Facilities that use COHSASA’s outpatient standards include:

  • Primary Healthcare Clinics: Facilities offering basic medical consultations, preventative care, vaccinations, treatment of common illnesses and non-emergency care for injuries and illnesses and without the need for overnight care.
  • Outpatient Clinics: Clinics providing diagnostic services, consultations and follow-up care, including specialised services, such as cardiology, dermatology, or orthopaedics, where patients can receive expert consultations.
  • Day Surgery Centres: Facilities where minor surgery and procedures are performed, allowing patients to return home the same day.

Read more

COHSASA Healthcare Facility Standards- Inpatient Care (Second Edition)

These in-patient standards are suitable for acute healthcare facilities, inpatient rehabilitation services, specialist inpatient facilities and inpatient mental health care facilities.

COHSASA’s inpatient standards focus on ensuring safe and effective care within hospitals and other inpatient healthcare settings. These standards emphasise critical aspects like infection control, patient safety, medication management, staff competencies, and infrastructure adequacy. They set benchmarks for patient rights, clinical governance, and the continuity of care, ensuring that each stage of inpatient treatment aligns with quality and safety best practices. Compliance with these standards encourages facilities to develop robust policies and protocols, including emergency preparedness, ethical practices, and patient-centred care strategies.

Inpatient standards are designed for facilities that provide care where patients stay overnight or longer under medical supervision. Facilities that typically use COHSASA’s inpatient standards include:

  • Hospitals: General, regional, district, or specialised hospitals where patients receive acute care, surgical procedures, intensive care, maternity services, and other 24-hour services.
  • Rehabilitation Centers: Facilities where patients require longer stays for physical and mental rehabilitation and recovery following surgeries, injuries, or chronic illness management.
  • Long-Term Care Facilities: Institutions like nursing homes and hospice care centers, where patients receive extended care that includes medical, emotional, and personal support

Read more

Standards for Palliative Health Care Services

COHSASA and the Association of Palliative Care Centres (APCC) have collaborated for many years to produce standards. If you want a copy of the ISQuaEEA accredited 5th Edition Standards for Palliative Health Care Services, please contact the APCC, at general enquiries: info@apcc.org.za or visit their website at: https://apcc.org.za

The standards listed below can be bought from our COHSASA shop.

COHSASA Healthcare Facility Standards for Ambulatory Care
(Second Edition)

Ambulatory standards focus on facilities that provide diagnostic, preventive, and treatment services where patients do not require an overnight stay.

Buy standards
COHSASA Healthcare Facility Standards for Inpatient Care
(Second Edition)

COHSASA’s inpatient standards focus on ensuring safe and effective care within hospitals and other inpatient healthcare settings.

Buy standards
Palliative Care Standards

COHSASA and the Association of Palliative Care Centres (APCC) have collaborated for many years to produce standards. If you want a copy of the ISQuaEEA accredited 5th Edition Standards for Palliative Health Care Services, please contact the APCC, at general enquiries: info@apcc.org.za or visit their website at: https://apcc.org.za

Buy standards
Quality Improvement Training

Health facility teams new to the concept of accreditation may want guidance on how to get there. COHSASA offers training programmes in QI for a range of facilities.

Learn more
Advisory Services

We provide advisory services to facility teams on standards’ implementation, quality improvement programmes, information management and data quality.

Learn more
Self-Help
Tools

These tools will aid individuals or teams to understand and implement accreditation.

Learn more
COHSASA
accredited
facilities

Institutions which currently hold active accreditation are listed on our website.

Accredited facilities
Back To Top