WHO Country Office for India organized a one-day stakeholder consultation on regulation and accreditation of health service delivery institutions in India on 5 December 2013 at New Delhi.
The consultation was aimed at creating a common platform of relevant stakeholders and help synergize the actions towards improving the quality of health service delivery in the country.
The consultation was attended by Mr Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission and Chairperson of the Quality Council of India; Mr K Desiraju, Secretary, Health, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India; Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India and Dr Narottam Puri, Chairperson, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) among others.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Mr Maira pointed out that quality improvement , in all service sectors, including health sector, is being recognised as an important area and for a resource constrained country like India, innovative approaches are needed for making quality health services affordable and accessible.
“Planners need to go beyond the architecture of schemes and from stakeholder consultation to stakeholder collaboration,” he added.
In his remarks, Mr Desiraju highlighted that the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010, intends to improve quality through regulation and registration of all health facilities in India. However, the task is enormous. He pointed out that in such a situation, we are often tempted to go for ‘jugaad’, which cannot be a permanent solution. “Systemic changes are needed," he said.
Emphasising the quality dimension, Dr Menabde said, “There is need for not merely access and affordability, but also quality health services."
“Quality is an indispensable and inseparable part of healthcare and is the overall ambition of Universal Health Coverage in the 12th Five Year Plan to which, we strongly subscribe and support,” she added. Dr Menabde also emphasized the need for better implementation of regulatory mechanisms, if quality of health services have to be improved.
Dr Narottam Puri urged that India needs to promote quality in health care, both in public and private sector. He also suggested that it would be important for more facilities to move towards getting accreditation.
Participants reviewed the current status and ongoing activities in the area of regulation, accreditation and licensing of health services in India. National and international perspectives and experience in improving the quality of health services were also deliberated.
There was a consensus among participants for the formation of a ‘Multi-stakeholder Forum’ to work as linkage-platform between various stakeholders. Further, capacity building of policy-makers and program managers in the field of regulation and accreditation was identified as an area for immediate attention.
Participants at the consultation included senior officials from Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, other ministries of the Government of India and from a few selected state governments; representatives from national institutions, private sector bodies and agencies involved in the regulation, licensing, accreditation and certification of health service delivery institutions in the country; representatives from training and academic institutions, and from major international multilateral and bilateral agencies.