16,586 health facilities receive NQAS certification in Country: MoS Health
New Delhi: As of 31 October 2024, a total of 16,586 health facilities across the country have received NQAS certification. The National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) were introduced to establish and monitor quality standards across public healthcare facilities, aiming to ensure consistent, safe, and effective patient care by setting benchmarks for service delivery and quality management practices across various healthcare settings.
Shri Pratap Rao Jadhav, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare was responding to questions posed by Shri Madan Rathore, Dr Parmar Jashvantsinh Salamsinh and Shri Baburam Nishad during a Rajya Sabha session and enquired whether Government has taken efforts to improve quality of healthcare services through National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS); and the total number of health facilities which have received certification by NQAS?
The minister further stated that the Government of India has implemented the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) which is a comprehensive framework established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), aimed at ensuring and enhancing the quality of healthcare services provided to public health facilities.
Initially, the Standards were applied for District Hospitals, aiming to ensure that services provided through public health facilities are safe, patient-centric, and of assured quality. Subsequently, these standards were extended to Sub-District Hospitals (SDH), Community Health Centers (CHCs), Ayushman Arogya Mandir -Urban Primary Health Centre (AAMUPHC), Ayushman Arogya Mandir- Primary Health Centre (AAM-PHC), and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs Sub-Centers (AAM-SHCs).
For ease of compliance in assessment, digital technology was leveraged, and ‘Virtual Assessment for National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) Certification of Ayushman Arogya Mandir- Sub Health Centers (AAM-SHCs)’ was launched on 28th June 2024. On June 28, 2024, the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) for Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs) were launched to enhance the accuracy and precision of testing processes and results, added the Minister.
