ACCREDITATION AND HEALTH CARE QUALITY ASSURANCE IN PAKISTAN: A DESK REVIEW

Abstract

Background: Pakistan has a well-established healthcare system with 70% healthcare needs catered by private health sector. The latter's unregulated and unchecked expansion has resulted in quackery and compromised quality of care. This situation analysis provides a snapshot of health system's quality assurance and accreditation processes. Methods: Two validated questionnaires from World health Organization gauged the current state of health care accreditation and quality of care initiatives in Pakistan. Information was obtained from peer reviewed articles, grey literature, policy documents on government websites and newspapers. Results: Pakistan has a number of regulatory bodies responsible for ensuring quality in healthcare through accreditation and defined standards. National Institute of Health issues updated clinical quality guidelines pertaining to disease epidemics. A national quality policy was also formulated in 2004. However, implementing and ensuring accreditation has been challenging. Though statutory bodies are in place for registering different cadres of healthcare professionals, policies and mechanisms regarding licensure of healthcare establishments are missing. Emergence of national health vision 2012-2020, provincial health sector strategies and healthcare commission acts have focused on regulation of private health sector and accreditation of healthcare establishments. Despite presence of regulatory bodies, there are implementation gaps. Conclusion: This paper highlights some important gaps regarding accreditation and quality in healthcare. Quality assurance should be incorporated into national health policies, programs and strategies. National health policy should include explicit laws concerning quality Indicators and standards for quality in health care. Need to regulate private health sector and ensuring quality in overall healthcare is more than ever.