DNV is supporting Slovenian healthcare authorities in their drive to improve patient safety and quality of care. The first two certificates to the DNV international accreditation standard for hospitals have been issued in Europe to two hospitals in Slovenia.
In connection with the Norwegian State visit to Slovenia this week, DNV awarded certificates to the University Clinic of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases in Golnik and the University Rehabilitation Institute SOCA in Ljubljana. The certificates issued to the hospitals represent an important milestone: they are the first in Europe to receive the DNV international healthcare accreditation.
Royal opening
The State visit conference was opened by His Majesty King Harald V of Norway and Slovenia’s President Danilo Turk, followed by Samo Hribar Milic, Director General, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and Dr Espen Cramer, Managing Director of DNV Healthcare and Biorisk.
In his speech, President Turk highlighted that healthcare is a key focus area for the government of Slovenia. “A well-functioning national health system is a pre-requisite for sustaining and improving the standard of health for our people, and this in turn is a fundamental factor for our country’s economic well-being. With this in mind, one of the government’s goals is to strive for improvement in terms of access to quality healthcare for the entire population. The certificates awarded to the hospitals today represent an important start of a long-term effort to enhance the standard of healthcare and patient safety.”
Patient safety in focus
“The Slovenian health authorities have a strong focus on patient safety and recognise the importance of accreditation as a tool to enhance patient safety,” remarked Dr Cramer. “Further, in order to prepare for the EU directive on patient mobility, which comes into effect in 2014, the Slovenian health authorities are encouraging hospitals to achieve accreditation according to an internationally recognised standard. In this context, DNV is honoured to provide its third party accreditation services and congratulates the management and staff at both hospitals for their dedicated efforts in achieving the accreditation certificates – the first in Europe.”
Following the conference opening, DNV, IUZ and Innovation Norway arranged a seminar on patient safety and cross-border healthcare. The seminar attracted over 50 key decision makers within the Slovenian health sector. Dr Dorjan Marusic, the Slovenian Minister of Health, opened the seminar by expressing his satisfaction that important progress has been made in the on-going cooperation between Slovenia and Norway in the area of public health and healthcare.
Sharing knowledge and best practice
“A memorandum of Understanding has been signed and this will enable us to carry out a wide cross-sectorial project, with the financial assistance from Norway, for the reduction of healthcare differences. Also, today, our gathering is aimed at the transfer of experience and best practice with the goal to improve the operation of healthcare systems. This is important since financial and economic crisis as necessitated further rationalization of the use of resources and, at the same time, our citizens rightly expect safe healthcare of the highest possible standard – at home or within the EU.”
He continued, “Therefore, the strategic goal of the our government is systematic regulation of health treatment quality and safety on the basis of internationally recognized quality management systems…and I am particularly proud that two hospitals – the KOPA Golnik and the University Rehabilitation Institute - successfully achieved this goal today by receiving the DNV international accreditation standard.”
Cross-border healthcare
Commenting on the EU Directive on patient mobility, Dr Marusic said, “This is an important step towards a better and easier access to high-quality health services across borders. In the future we can expect an increasing number of patients seeking healthcare services in neighbouring countries and other EU member states. This means we will have to ensure that a high level of safety and quality healthcare is provided to patients. With this in mind, accreditation, in the anticipated dynamic European framework, will both serve as model for keeping domestic patients in Slovenian hospitals and attracting foreign patients and, at the same time, maintain financial sustainability of the system.”
“We are pleased to support the Slovenian healthcare authorities in their drive to improve patient safety,” said Dr Cramer and concluded, “We expect the number of accredited hospitals in Slovenia, and Europe in general, to increase in the coming years.”
Panellists at the healthcare seminar organised by DNV, IUZ and Innovation Norway:
From left, Dr Mircha Poldrugovac and Ms Biserka Simcic, Slovenian Ministry of Health, Wiola Bunia-Corbetta, ADS Insight, Inger-Marie Blix, DNV Research, Dr Miran Rems, General Hospital Jesenice, Dr Helge Svaar, Akerhus University Hospital and Dr Øystein Flesland, Norwegian Centre of Competence.