QCI launches accreditation programme of wellness centres

Today, the wellness and healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. But so far it is unregulated and prone to swindlers under the garb of this industry. Hence, Quality Council of India (QCI)’s National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers, (NABH) has initiated a programme of accreditation of wellness centres in India. Gyms, spas, cosmetic and skin treatment centres will now get legal authorisation from QCI.

NABH in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) formalised the standards. These standards for healthcare centres have been fixed by a panel of experts. Customer rights and education, infection control, training of staff, infrastructure, processes and statutory and regulatory compliances and related aspects were considered for standardisation. The QCI accreditation will be valid for three years and is voluntary.
    
With a total of 2,300 spas and health centres across the country and 700 more due to be functional in span of four years, the industry is likely to grow at 25 percent a year. Most of the existing ones are in southern parts of India.

Besides spas, health care facilities under AYUSH (Ayurveda Yoga Unani, Siddha Homeopathy) are gaining popularity. There are 3400 such hospitals and also around 12 Yoga hospitals in the country. NABH has planned for Accreditation Standards for them as well.

AYUSH hospitals will have two kinds of standardisations, viz, accreditation and structural. Accreditation standards will cover the quality and safety aspects of the care taken of the patients. Structural standards will verify the infrastructural facilities of the organisation ensuring quality of care. However, each speciality in such hospitals will have its own accreditation standards based on their individual medical and other requirements.

The standards for AYUSH have been developed in association with the Department of AYUSH. The standards will focus on various services like customer rights and education, infection control practices, skilled and experienced staff, infrastructure, environmental safety, control measures and related processes including statutory and regulatory compliances, while providing a skeletal framework for quality assurance and improvements at the AYUSH hospitals.