Accra, Dec 22, GNA – The Minister of Health (MOH), Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has commended the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) for building confidence of the public in health facilities in the country through the enforcement of regulation.
He said enforcement of the regulation had instilled discipline in the operations of health facilities and charged the Agency to maintain that standard.
The Minister said this at the 10th anniversary celebration of HeFRA on the theme; “Digitalising to Improve Health Regulation”.
“You have established the required foundation for HeFRA to take off. As you dream of greater heights in future it is also time to rededicate yourselves and work hard to ensure the organisation flourishes by winning the trust of all.”
The Minister mentioned digitalisation of operations, development of standards among others as successes chalked by the Agency, and commended management and staff for their efforts.
He said the Ministry was working on securing financial clearance per the request made by the Agency to augment its staff strength.
Dr Philip A. Bannor, the Registrar of HeFRA, said the Agency was charged to register, inspect, license, monitor, and accredit both public and private health facilities.
Dr Bannor said they were looking up to signing a memorandum of understanding with stakeholders and sister agencies to streamline activities for effective regulatory and licensing processes.
He said they were also working to deepen collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority, the Ghana Health Service, the Pharmacy Council among others to reduce the burden of regulation and uniformity in policy implementation.
The Registrar said in 2023, HeFRA would publish accreditation standards and challenged all healthcare institution to make sure their names were included in the publication.
He said come 2023, it would no longer be enough for a health institution to say it had an accreditation.
The Health Institutions and Facilities Act, 2011 (Act 829) established the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) in part one of the Act.
HeFRA was set up to license facilities for the provision of public and private health care services.
GNA