DHCA as UAE’s national healthcare accrediting body

Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) plans to become the UAE’s first national healthcare accrediting body by 2020.

Dubai Healthcare City Authority – Regulatory (DHCR) is an independent regulatory arm of Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA), the governing body of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) free zone.

DHCR regulates the free zone, and is responsible for ensuring compliance and enforcement of international quality standards for clinical and non-clinical facilities, licensure of all healthcare professionals, educators and operators and setting and maintaining international best practices in delivering healthcare within DHCC.

DHCR plans to be the first national accrediting body in the UAE for hospitals and clinics in the free zone. DHCA seeks to have all public and private hospitals accredited according to national and international quality standards.

DHCR is using consultancy Health Care Accreditation Council in Jordan, to help it get accreditation as an organisation from the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua). ISQua is the only organisation that accredits the accreditors.

Once accredited, DHCR will be able to accredit hospitals within DHCC and branches of DHCC based hospitals across the different free zones in the emirate.

Dr Ramadan AlBlooshi of DHCR: “With mandatory accreditation and rapid growth of the healthcare sector in the UAE, our health system requires national accrediting bodies in the long-term to be cost-effective and sustainable. As the body responsible for setting standards and improving the quality of care, Dubai Healthcare City Authority – Regulatory, will expand its scope to be recognized as a national accrediting body. We will be able to assess, track and monitor performance by hospitals as well as outpatient clinics. We will also be able to have greater oversight and drive improvements in quality in the free zone and for other industry stakeholders.”