The Outpatient Clinic of Sidra Medical and Research Centre (Sidra) has become the first healthcare facility in Qatar to be awarded their licence by the National Healthcare Facility Licensing and Accreditation Programme.
The new licensing authority has been given a mandate from the MOPH to streamline national standards and regulations for healthcare facilities across the private and public sector in Qatar. It was set up to ensure  that minimum safety requirements are in place for a healthcare facility to operate in the country.
Among the requirements for an assessment are: complying with building structure protocols such as architectural details; entrances, exits and navigation (way finding systems); as well as workplace health and safety; emergency preparedness; housekeeping and waste management.
The new programme encompasses processes from various regulatory bodies into a set of licensing and accreditation requirements based on international best practices. Whereas other countries have separate licensing and accreditation processes, the new National Healthcare Facilities Licensing and Accreditation Programme is unique in that it integrates the two processes to ensure a streamline approach to evaluate quality of care and patient safety. Public and private healthcare facilities will be assessed for their compliance to the Licensing Protocols and Accreditation Standards.
Dr Salih al-Marri at the Ministry of Public Health said the ministry is committed  to continue to improve the quality of healthcare service provided to the citizens of Qatar.
He congratulated Sidra on the work they have done to be the first facility awarded a licence under the new process.
Dr al-Marri commented that the new licensing and accreditation programme is in keeping with the direction of the National Health Strategy and applauds the National Healthcare Facilities Licensing and Accreditation Programme for the work they have done to develop and implement the new licensing protocols.
“We appreciate the response and commitment we received from Sidra throughout the licensing process and congratulate the organisation’s leadership and staff for their whole hearted co-operation and enthusiasm during their licensing inspection” stated Dr Aisha al-Aali, Director, National Healthcare Facilities Licensing and Accreditation Department, Ministry of Public Health.  She went on to say that this demonstrated Sidra’s understanding of the importance of achieving these standards of excellence.
Peter Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Sidra said: “We are extremely pleased to have been awarded the licence by the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar.  We have very much appreciated their guidance in helping us launch the first phase of the opening of Sidra with our Outpatient Clinic on  May 1, 2016.  We are committed to delivering excellent outpatient services from day one and to continue to build on our Outpatient Clinic developments in the months ahead.”