Kerala hospital gets NABH Safe1 accreditation

Private Devamatha hospital here today became the second hospital in the country to be conferred the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH)-Safe 1 accreditation relating to hospital infection control practices and protocols.
Announcing this, NABH Director Dr Gayatri Mahindroo told reporters here that Tagore Hospital at Jalandar in Punjab was the first hospital to be certified for the accreditation.
Presently, 18 hospitals in Punjab and 19 in Kerala are undergoing the NABH-Safe 1 accreditation programme being conducted by NABH and BD, a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufacturers and sells medical devices and instrument systems, she said.

Since infection control was an important cornerstone of safe healthcare delivery, NABH began the NABH-Safe 1 in partnership with BD as the standard for improving patient safety by prevention of infection within the premises of healthcare organisations, she said.
Under this programme, NABH recommends safe injection and infusion practices, biomedical waste management, healthcare workers' safety and sterilisation and disinfection.
NABH also provides a consultant through its technical partner BD to help applicants build capability to run a robust infection control programme, providing training content and surveillance tools.

NABH and BD, had signed an MOU last year to support hospitals in attaining quality of care standards for infection control.

This collaboration was an effort to strengthen health systems in India and promote continuous quality improvement to ensure quality health care for patients in hospitals with effective infection control practices in place.
Bhaskar Sonowal, Technical Advisor Patient Safety and Infection Control, BD India, said, he was happy that certification process was moving at a good pace and was becoming a choice for many hospitals who are eager to improve the quality of patient care.