KIMS Bahrain Medical Centre (KBMC) has become the first medical centre in the GCC to achieve international health care accreditation from Australia.

The accreditation was granted by the Australian Council for Health Care Standards International (ACHSI).

Survey co-ordinator Ros Pearson, who headed a team which conducted an organisation-wide survey, said though there are several hospitals which have won the council's accreditation, KBMC was the first medical centre in the GCC to get this recognition.

"With the completion of the accreditation process, KBMC has developed and implemented a firm system of patient care based on infection control and safety," she told the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"It has also helped in creating a culture of evidence-based approach to healthcare and data-driven decision-making.

"Thus KBMC has taken the right step in upholding their vision of 'Providing Quality Health Care at Affordable Cost'."

KBMC opened in Umm Al Hassam in June 2004 and is a multi-specialty medical centre offering outpatient and diagnostic services.

It is a franchisee of the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), a leading 450-bed private hospital located in Thiruvananthapuram, India.

In 2006, KIMS became the first hospital in India to get the council's accreditation.

The council is one of the three international agencies certified by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) to undertake healthcare facility accreditation around the globe.

"International accreditation will soon be made compulsory for all health-care institutions in GCC countries as the UAE government has already announced to make international accreditation mandatory by 2010," said Pearson.

"Even insurance companies are going to announce international health care accreditation mandatory for all their preferred medical providers."

The accreditation system is a four-year membership programme, with either a survey or a self-assessment event each year.

On assessing the current scale and growth of operations at the centre, the KBMC promoters feel that there exists sufficient potential to start a hospital in a strategic location in Manama, said KBMC chairman Ahmed Jawahery.

"Also, there has been a great demand from our clients to establish a hospital, and we hope our hospital will start functioning by early next year," he added.

KIMS India chairman and KBMC vice-chairman Dr M I Sahadulla expressed delight at the international accreditation. "This will motivate us to expand our operations in Bahrain," he added.

KBMC managing director Dr MA Mohammed said the KIMS group was in the process of opening new medical centres and hospitals in all the Gulf countries.

"KBMC currently employs 20 doctors and offers the services of 10 highly qualified specialists," he added.
"Our new 60-bed hospital will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology."

KBMC will hold a major celebration to mark its winning international accreditation on October 8.

The event at Crowne Plaza's Bahrain Conference Centre will be held under the patronage of Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer.