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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) today (November 4) announced that another two public hospitals have been awarded full accreditation for four years by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS).
The HA spokesperson said ACHS conducted the Organisation Wide Survey in Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) from July 19 to 23, 2010, and in Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) from July 26 to 30, 2010. Both hospitals were granted four-year full accreditation by ACHS in late October.
QEH attained Extensive Achievements in three areas, namely (1) systems for ongoing care of the consumer / patient are co-ordinated and effective; (2) healthcare incidents, complaints and feedback are managed to ensure improvement; and (3) external service providers are managed to maximise quality of care.
Hospital Chief Executive of QEH, Dr Hung Chi-tim, expressed his whole-hearted gratitude to all 5,000 staff members for their support and contribution. He noted, "The hospital accreditation is a process of continuous quality improvement. In response to the increasing public expectation and demand, we need to make changes. QEH has long aimed to provide every patient with safe medical services. The next step now is to turn our good services into quality patient care.
"Medical services have been undergoing transformation - they are provided through the collaboration of multi-departmental and inter-disciplinary teams. All departments and specialties should work hand in hand to improve our services with even more fruitful achievements. QEH has entered into the 'Year of Quality', following on the third consecutive year under the theme 'Year of Safety'. We will strive to improve continuously and move into a new era of patient care."
CMC also attained three Extensive Achievements in the survey, namely, (1) Systems exist to ensure that the care of dying and deceased consumers / patients is managed with dignity and comfort; (2) The incidence of falls and fall injuries are minimised through a falls management programme; (3) External service providers are managed to maximise quality of care.
Hospital Chief Executive of CMC, Dr Ma Hok-cheung, said, "The ACHS surveyors commended the impressive work the hospital has done in providing excellent and safe patient care, as well as the high level of awareness and commitment among hospital staff. The culture of continuously improving performance to underpin patient safety and service quality was also well demonstrated by the hospital in the accreditation process.
"The award is a recognition for the significant achievements of the hospital in the pursuit of quality patient care and confirms the hospital's capability in developing an effective framework for continuous quality improvement comparable with international counterparts. As a matter of fact, the hospital has strived to deliver high quality health care to the local community since its establishment in 1964. It has received awards and attained various levels of recognition from renowned international or local accreditation agents in the last 10 years."
A total of five public hospitals participated in the Pilot Scheme of Hospital Accreditation, which was launched in 2009. Besides QEH and CMC, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital has also been awarded accreditation. The other two participating hospitals are Tuen Mun Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital, and the survey results are expected to be released in early 2011.
Ends/Thursday, November 4, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:09
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