Quality health care now major concern

While Bangladesh has a good healthcare infrastructure, the major concern now is quality, experts said yesterday, calling for improvements through upgrading medical education and standardisation of treatment.

They said the clinical part was crucial but the way healthcare providers deal with patients and transparency and accountability at every stage were of critical importance for quality care.

The observations came at a discussion organised by Apollo Hospitals Dhaka at its auditorium in the capital marking World Quality Day.

With quite good healthcare infrastructures, including nearly 100 medical colleges, Bangladesh now needed a strong policy and national accreditation system to ensure quality, said Dr Deen Mohd Noorul Huq, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

He said it was important to regularly assess hospitals for continuous development of medical and ethical practices to reduce medical errors that might lead to an increase in morbidity or deaths. “We are trying to establish an accreditation system for the hospitals,” he added.

R Basil, executive director and CEO of STS Holdings Limited, said Apollo Hospitals in Bangladesh was the only healthcare provider to have been accredited internationally and there were 26 such accredited hospital.

Independent University, Bangladesh Vice-Chancellor M Omar Rahman said out of pocket health expenditure in Bangladesh was some 65 percent, one of the major factors pushing people into poverty. “Health insurance can play a critical role here,” he added.

Brac Executive Director Dr Muhammad Musa said one has to think how to expand quality medical services to all the population.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said there was an imbalance in power relations between patients and hospital authorities, a fact that leaves patients in a vulnerable position. He suggested that hospital authorities could hold monthly discussions with patients on the hospital's performance. Views from the patients could help improve the healthcare quality, he added.

Dr Prasad R Muglikar of Apollo Group in India, and Syed Moinuddin Ahmed, additional managing director of Green Delta Insurance, also spoke.