SQHN Begins Accreditation of Healthcare Facilities

Ugo Aliogo

The Society for Quality in Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN) has launched its internationally certified health facility accreditation standards in a virtual meeting attended by dignitaries and healthcare practitioners from both public and private healthcare organisations across 10 States.

A statement by the NGO said SQHN is a a not-for-profit organisation founded by Late Prof. Adeyemo Elebute commenced operations in 2003 with the mission to lead, advocate and facilitate the continuous improvement of quality, “and safety in healthcare in Nigeria through accreditation, education, collaboration, and training.

The statement also stated that in line with its mission, SQHN actively began the development of local healthcare facility accreditation standards in 2014 to guide and support healthcare facilities in Nigeria in their collective, “and individual journeys towards quality care delivery, excellent patient experience, and patient safety.”

According to the statement, “The SQHN standards were developed by Nigerians, for Nigerian health facilities based on both local and international evidence-based practices and standards following extensive assessment of the Nigerian healthcare system and detailed deliberations with relevant stakeholders in both the public and private health sectors.

“Similar to international healthcare quality accreditation standards offered by USbased Joint Commission International (JCI) and South Africa based, Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa (COHSASA) standards, the SQHN standards have gone through the rigorous review and certification processes of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).

“SQHN is the only internationally recognised health facility accreditation entity in Nigeria. SQHN standards are specifically designed to improve the overall quality of the health sector by providing standardized assessment of the structures and processes necessary to achieve quality outcomes in a manner that promotes benchmarking and internal organization improvement of healthcare facilities.

The SQHN accreditation provides a basis for measurement of the performance expectations, structures, or processes that must be in place for any healthcare organization to provide safe and high-quality care, treatment and service while minimizing variation. The standards and accreditation process have been developed to enable Nigerian hospitals to improve and achieve acceptable performance. Accreditation, though not an end in itself, is a hallmark that healthcare facilities should strive to attain in the continuous healthcare quality improvement journey.

“SQHN accreditation is as rigorous as other international accreditation standards but considerably cheaper. Interested public and private healthcare organizations can apply to the SQHN secretariat to commence their accreditation journey which consists of multiple self and independent assessments. Health facilities that meet the accreditation requirements can enviably position themselves as centers of excellence in the Nigerian healthcare delivery ecosystem. SQHN’s accreditation standards are a the complement to existing regulatory standards and compliance with State and National requirements are an integral part of the accreditation process.”

Earlier in his remarks, SQHN Board member, Dr. Femi Olugbile, described the launch of the standards as an epochal development in the Nigerian healthcare industry that deserves to be celebrated, embraced and maximally utilized to take health services in Nigeria to the next level.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the SQHN Accreditation committee, Dr. Olujimi Coker, acknowledged the effort of the SQHN technical committee members in developing the standards and urged private and public health facilities to key in and begin their quality improvement journey using the SQHN accreditation standards.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association Clinical Governance Committee, Prof. Joseph Ana, lauded SQHN on the launch and emphasized the need for collaboration with other stakeholders in the Nigerian healthcare system.