The Registrar of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency has lauded the commitment of the Christian Health Association of Ghana for demonstrating commitment and drive towards improving quality healthcare delivery within its facilities across the country.

Speaking at the maiden SafeCare quality improvement awards organised by PharmAccess Ghana, and SafeCare in collaboration with HeFRA, Dr Phillip Bannor, said the quality improvement partnership with SafeCare helps the health regulatory agency to work towards minimising errors in care and promoting quality health care.  

He said with improvement in quality care, issues like hospital-acquired infections, misdiagnoses, and frequent readmission rates will be reduced significantly.

According to Dr Bannor, the partnership with SafeCare gives HeFRA an international partner that provides another layer of international standardised recognition for all the facilities that will be accredited by HeFRA.

He said the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) has so far made remarkable strides towards improving quality care by signing on to the SafeCare quality improvement programme.

Speaking to Journalists after the awards, the Executive Director of CHAG, Dr. Peter Yeboah emphasized the need for quality standards in the health delivery system. He said the SafeCare programme has enabled CHAG to measure, rate, and rank the over three hundred and thirty facilities under CHAG.

Dr Peter Yeboah said, 91 per cent of all CHAG facilities assessed by SafeCare have recorded performance improvement since 2020. He said, during the baseline assessment in 2020, only four facilities out of the 330 had reached Level 4 of the SafeCare quality rating.

However, following the rigorous assessment and QI facilitation performed and supported by the internationally certified SafeCare assessors, 38 of the CHAG facilities have currently attained SafeCare Level 4.

“This means that for everyone who reports to any of these 38 CHAG facilities, the level of care received will be as good as any person receiving care in any SafeCare level 4 certified facility in any part of the world,” Dr Peter Yeboah explained.

He added that 99 CHAG facilities initially rated at Level 1 have progressed to Levels 2 or 3 in the past three years of embarking on the quality improvement program.

Dr Peter Yeboah said SafeCare is transforming the entire health system in Ghana because it aligns perfectly with the country’s roadmap toward achieving universal healthcare tenets.

According to the CHAG Executive Director, the time has come for Ghana to build a responsive resilient sector for quality healthcare delivery as it continues to restore health facilities from the impact of the devastation the COVID-19 pandemic brought.

Dr Yeboah added that by using the SafeCare Standards, the country can push to attain Global standards of healthcare.

Dr Peter Yeboah expressed the commitment of the CHAG management to invest and sustain the SafeCare quality improvement journey as it transitions from a fully funded PharmAccess support to a self-sustaining programme by the Christian Health Association of Ghana.

In all, eight healthcare facilities and organizations that have made remarkable progress in establishing and implementing systems and processes towards improvement were awarded along with seven individuals who are dedicated to promoting and facilitating quality improvement in various healthcare facilities networks in Ghana. 

The Deputy Executive Director for CHAG Dr James Duah was honoured as the SafeCare Personality of the Year 2021-2023. The Most Dedicated Assessor in CHAG 2021-2023 award was received by Emmanuel Addo.

The SafeCare Innovation for QI Award 2021-2023 and the Highest QPP Promoter 2021-2023 awards went to Edwin Mensah Agbeko.

The Best Performing Assessor in CHAG 2021-2023 was won by Dr Anita Appiah, while the SafeCare Loyalty Award 2021-2023 went to Mary Konneh-Archer.

The Outstanding Assessor in all the SafeCare network 2021-2023 prizes was picked by Valentina Naa Deisa Thompson.

In the facilities category, the Most Improved Clinics and Health Centres @ SafeCare Level 3 recognition was given to E.P. Church Clinic, Wapuli. While the Rev. Walker Medical Mission Hospital won the Most Improved Primary Hospital @ SafeCare Level 4 for 2021-2023.

The Most Improved Large Primary Hospital / Secondary Hospital @ SafeCare Level 4 awards for the years under review went to St. Elizabeth Hospital, Hwidiem.

Also, the Global Evangelic Mission Hospital, Apromoase, won the Most Frequent QPP User (2021-2023) award. The Most Consistent QPP User (2021-2023) award was won by St Theresa's Hospital, Nandom.

The Sanford World Clinic, Ghana also received the award for the most improved private health network and the Ghana Adventist Health Services won the SafeCare QI institutionalization Award (2021-2023) and lastly, the CHAG Shining Example Award for the period was won by E.P. Church Clinic, Dzemeni.

In his welcome remarks, the Country Director for PharmAccess Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Akwasi Antwi said every year, more than 100 million patients receive care in health facilities certified by SafeCare globally. Highlighting the dangers of low quality of care, Dr Maxwell Antwi presented some worrying data about quality healthcare especially in low to middle-income countries.

He said, “Almost 5.7 to 8.4 million people die every year as a result of poor quality of care in low to middle-income countries like Ghana. Poor quality of care kills more people than the lack of access to health care he emphasized.”

According to him, poor quality of care killed more people in one year, than the Covid-19 pandemic did in three years.

He explained, “Covid killed about 7 million people in three years, but the poor quality of care kills about the same number of people every year.”

“Every one of us has had the experience of somebody who would have lived but for poor quality of care,” he intimated.

He said these to emphasise why the HeFRA-recognized and ISQua-accredited SafeCare Standards need to be adopted in the healthcare system for improvement in quality care.

He also said why the Internationally Certified Assessors SafeCare deserved to be celebrated and honoured because they are working hard to improve the quality of healthcare for patients.

SafeCare helps healthcare stakeholders in emerging markets to bridge the quality gaps today for safer care tomorrow.

The internationally recognized and accredited standards by the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association (IEEA), measure the quality of healthcare provision and provide a staged, motivating, technology-powered pathway to sustainable improvement. SafeCare aims to create a significant impact on the quality of healthcare provision.