The MOH's Health Centers General Department is going to organize an introductory workshop on primary healthcare accreditation standards on 9/1/1433H (4/12/2011), for the employees of health centers, as well as the senior staff and officials of the primary healthcare departments at the various regions, in addition to the departments related to the Ministry of Health one way or another.
The workshop is to be organized in Jeddah for 4 days, with the participation of 50 trainees. The workshop is intended for the improvement of quality of the health services provided in health centers, the optimal utilization of the available resources and potential, in light of the accredited standards, and supplying the necessary equipment for the first stage of health centers accreditation. The Ministry's plan includes 100 health centers, thus preparing 5 health centers in each region for accreditation.
Also, the workshop seeks to qualify those who are well trained to train the employees working for the health centers included in the first stage, with the aim to meet the accreditation standards as regards the activities and services of primary healthcare.
The workshop is also meant to accomplish a range of short-term targets, including raising awareness on the concept of accreditation and its importance for ensuring ongoing and unremitting development of the health services provided, as well as informing trainees of the basic information that has to do with the accreditation standards and the ways to best meet them, and guiding participants to the available sources of information to obtain sufficient information on the standards. Among the objectives of the workshop, also, is to make the participants well aware of the concepts, elements and aspects of total quality, and spreading out the culture of accreditation among the Ministry's senior staff, officials and competent entities, in addition to working to qualify the employees assigned to review the policies and procedures relevant to the accreditation standards of the services and activities of the primary healthcare programs adopted by health centers, aside from ascertaining the standards are identical with reality.
As far as the long-term objectives are concerned, the workshop seeks to improve the health services provided for patients, accordance with the accreditation standards.