Hospitals in Bahrain will soon be subject to a system of categorisation based on their available facilities, size, number of staff and other criteria.

Both government and private hospitals will be assessed under the scheme by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) and given an A, B or C classification as a result, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The system is currently under review by the Supreme Council for Health and once approved, hospitals will be given three months to prepare for categorisation, NHRA chief executive Dr Baha Eldin Fateha told the GDN.

“This is part of Bahrain's efforts to develop a national health strategy and monitor the development and application of quality standards for health services,” he said on the sidelines of a meeting of the NHRA and private health sector representatives, held at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) headquarters in Sanabis yesterday.

“The first phase of the classification will be done for all hospitals, while the second phase will be for medical and health centres and the final phase will be for clinics.

“We have set 1,730 criteria, based on which hospitals will be classified - covering all aspects ranging from infrastructure and medical facilities to staffing.”

Prior to inspection by the NHRA, all hospitals will be asked to conduct a self-assessment and given an opportunity to upgrade their status, Dr Fateha said.

Those that match 75 per cent of the criteria will be awarded 'A' status, while those matching between 50 per cent and 75 per cent will be given a 'B' and below 50 per cent a 'C'.

Dr Fateha stressed that a 'C' categorisation does not necessarily mean a hospital has poor health standards.

Licence

“All hospitals in Bahrain are licensed after they have complied with the minimum standards set by the government,” he said.

“The C-level hospitals might be in that category because of their medical facilities, in terms of not having the best and most modern equipment - not because of poor health standards.

“Some hospitals might have a training facility, which improves their grade, but the hospitals that don't have such a facility are not bad hospitals.”

Random inspections will be carried out by the NHRA to ensure hospitals are keeping up to the standard, Dr Fateha added. - TradeArabia News Service