Resilience in the face of a pandemic

The clinical and administration teams that have driven the quality improvement process at the Knysna Sedgefield Hospice. This hospice has been accredited by Cohsasa for a sixth time. It has maintained accreditation without interruption since 2007.

“In a post-Covid society, it is reassuring to know that there are organisations that continue to strive to provide the very best care for their patients. Healthcare providers have been shaken up by the Covid-19 pandemic and there is a new emphasis on creating and maintaining health structures resilient to sudden crises. Accreditation is one method of assuring that health facilities can contain and withstand the negative impact of health emergencies,” says CEO of Cohsasa, Jacqui Stewart.

Cohsasa is a not-for-profit company (NPC) based in Cape Town. In the past 28 years it has worked with more than 600 healthcare facilities throughout Africa to create better and safer health care.

These are the latest facilities to receive Cohsasa Awards at a Board Meeting held on 19 May 2023.

A Cohsasa full accreditation award means that a healthcare facility has entered a demanding quality improvement programme and has been assessed against and complied with standards recognised by the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association (ISQua EEA), the global body overseeing accreditation and quality improvement programmes in healthcare organisations in 70 countries around the world.

The organisation Cohsasa and its standards is the only accrediting body for healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan African recognised and accredited by ISQuaEEA.

Healthcare facilities that initially enter the programme and meet standards are awarded two-year accreditations and as the journey in quality improvement continues, awards of longer duration are given. A four-year accreditation award from the Council should signal to patients that a facility has sustained an excellent level of standards over a significant period.

All facilities that receive an accreditation award must undergo an interim survey halfway through the period to ensure that standards are being maintained.

To learn more about the value and benefits of accreditation and the work that Cohsasa does, have a look at our website: www.cohsasa.co.za.