Date:21/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/21/stories/2008122159500300.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Efforts for hospital accreditation

Kochi: Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy on Saturday said that the government was trying to get International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) accreditation for selected district government hospitals before applying to the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH).

She was speaking at a function at which Ranjini Eye Hospital in the city was handed over the NABH certificate.

The minister said that funds had been sanctioned for starting the process for getting ISQua accreditation. She said the Ernakulam General Hospital was one among the hospitals selected.

NABH certificate could be obtained only after getting the ISQua accreditation.

She said that if the accreditation was to be secured, the government hospital would have to upgrade the facilities on a par with super speciality hospitals.

Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, who was present at the function, said the state had set high standards in heath care maintenance.

That the infant mortality rate was low indicated that the State was far ahead in health care programme implementations.

Giridhar Gyani, chief executive officer of NABH, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and others spoke.