JOIN USIn what may be a major step to overhaul the medical education scenario in the State, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has become the first university in the country to tie up with Quality Council of India (QCI) and apply for the NABH accreditation.
The announcement was made here on Monday, at an orientation programme for the principals and deans of various institutes affiliated to the university. The move, apart from accrediting medical and patient-centric care, will ensure that students coming out of medical colleges possess a specific standard set by RGUHS and QCI, required to become doctors, physicians and nurses.
The five-year-old National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) will provide initial training and involve in capacity building for district and city-level medical colleges and hospitals associated with RGUHS.
The first priority for Vice Chancellor of RGUHS, Sriprakash, is to get all the institutes under RGUHS attain NABH accreditation. The second priority is getting the academic wing standardised and accredited.
“RGUHS has formed a core committee to prepare a draft which will be submitted to QCI in a few weeks. We will sign a MoU with QCI to improve the standard of medical education in our institutions,” said Sriprakash.
Bangalore, Hubli and Mangalore have been identified as the centres where training will be provided to faculty and students of nearby affiliated institutes. At each centre, six institutions will join the five-day training programme. The training will be undertaken on a cost sharing basis with each institution paying a share of the required Rs 1.8 lakh.
Sriprakash says, “The initial training programme should be completed in eight months. We are looking at accrediting all institutions in two years.”
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Giridhar Gyani, Secretary General of QCI, said since its inception, around 140-odd private hospitals have been given the NABH accreditation.
However, it was unfortunate that the government did not lay emphasis on the tertiary level which is the teaching side.
“RGUHS and Karnataka took the initiative to change this and QCI is more than glad to provide a capacity building model and support the university in the initial stages for the next couple of years,” he said.
Gyani said that apart from RGUHS, only Kerala University of Health Sciences had approached QCI for the purpose.
Earlier, at the orientation programme, Ramana Reddy, Principal Secretary for Health and Family Welfare, said: “In government hospitals and medical colleges, we do not have the required infrastructure, especially human resources.”
He said that government hospitals in Bijapur and Tumkur have initiated measures to go for NABH accreditation. Ten other district hospitals will follow suit.