​The Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Zhou Ji, accompanied by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, witnessed the accreditation of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) under the China's International Hospital Accreditation Standards (2021 Version) (the Standards) and officiated at the unveiling ceremony of the Hong Kong Office of the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center (Center) today (December 8). PYNEH is the first hospital in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to receive the accreditation under the Standards.
Addressing the Award Ceremony of the First Hospital in the HKSAR receiving China's International Hospital Accreditation cum Unveiling Ceremony of Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center Hong Kong Office, Professor Lo said, "I am very excited and proud about the accreditation of the first hospital in Hong Kong under the Standards. The resumption of the Hospital Accreditation Programme in public hospitals in Hong Kong can enhance the quality and safety of hospitals and ensure the management, services and quality of hospitals continuously improve and are on par with international standard, while also signifying that the development of high-quality local healthcare has reached a new height. Moreover, accreditation under the Standards can promote uniformity of the healthcare services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), hence providing residents of the GBA with international and homogenous healthcare services. This also marks the milestone when the Standards, which is an international hospital accreditation standard developed by our country, has officially gone beyond the Mainland and towards internationalisation.
"The HKSAR Government will continue to press ahead with the accreditation programme under the Standards in the future. In addition to PYNEH which has received accreditation and Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) which is undergoing accreditation process, more public and private hospitals participating in the accreditation programme under the Standards will not only complement healthcare integration within the GBA and support Hong Kong's integration into the national development, but also demonstrate excellence of the national hospital accreditation standards to the international community through fully leveraging Hong Kong’s advantages of enjoying strong support of the Motherland and being closely connected to the world. In addition, the setting up of an office in Hong Kong by the Center which developed the Standards can accelerate the accreditation programme under the Standards in the HKSAR and highlight the important role of the HKSAR as a gateway to demonstrate and promote the Standards to the international community, thereby promoting the going global of national hospital accreditation standards."
The Standards were jointly developed by hospital accreditation experts from Hong Kong and the Mainland based on the national Tier III Class A hospital accreditation standards and in accordance with the requirements of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQHC), while drawing reference from international experience. The Standards and the Center have successfully obtained three accreditations of the ISQHC in terms of health and social care standards, surveyor training programmes as well as external evaluation organisations, therefore are considered an internationally recognised hospital accreditation framework. In line with the policy initiative of hospital accreditation set out in the Chief Executive's Policy Addresses of 2022 and 2023, the Hospital Authority (HA) has resumed the Hospital Accreditation Programme by adopting the Standards at PYNEH and PWH in 2023-24.
Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Mr Yin Zhonghua; the Director General of the Public Hygiene and Health Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Ms Wu Hongyan; and the Deputy Executive Director-General of the Qianhai Authority, Mr Huang Xiaopeng, also officiated at the Ceremony. Other attending guests include the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; the Chairman of the HA, Mr Henry Fan; and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko.
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