Dubai healthcare city's regulator receives second prestigious accreditation

The Centre for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ), part of Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA), has announced its second accreditation of Outpatient Clinic Quality Standards. The CPQ, responsible for the regulation and licencing of all healthcare facilities and practitioners within Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), has received a four-year accreditation from The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). ISQua, a global leader in assessing the standards in healthcare safety and quality, and the only organisation to "accredit the accreditors", awarded CPQ the 2nd Edition of the CPQ Outpatient Clinic Quality Standards accreditation, valid from May 2013 to April 2017. Dubai Healthcare City is overseen by Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) and regulated by the CPQ. Dr. Ayesha Abdullah, Managing Director, CPQ, said, "Achieving accreditation for the second time by ISQua's International Accreditation Programme is testament to our commitment of placing quality and patient safety at the forefront. It demonstrates to our stakeholders that the standards applied to outpatient clinic and ambulatory surgery centres in DHCC meet international best practice. "Our standards have undergone a rigorous and credible development process in keeping with ISQua's comprehensive criteria that included many of DHCC's healthcare facilities." She added that CPQ was the first independent organisation in the region to attain ISQua recognition in 2009 for healthcare standards developed specifically for outpatient clinics. By 2020, only accredited healthcare providers will be allowed to operate in the U.A.E., as laid out in the seven-year U.A.E. National Agenda announced in January.