Institutionalization of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) for Health Facilities in Nepal:
Exemplary Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle for Readiness and Service Availability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61814/jkahs.v6i1.792Keywords:
Minimum Service Standards, Quality Improvement, Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle, Institutionalization, Readiness and Service AvailabilityAbstract
Access to health facilities alone, without quality services, does more harm than the benefit to the people’s health. Nepal has invested more than two decades in expansion of number of health facilities and the journey is still on to balance level of health facilities based on the federal structure. Institutionalization of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) for health facilities in Nepal implemented by Ministry of Health and Population is an exemplary Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle for health facilities readiness and service availability for quality improvement. From its design, development, stakeholders’ engagement, implementation to development of action plan makes MSS lively and outcome oriented tool. MSS for health facilities in Nepal is an effort of government to prepare foundation of readiness and service availability to move ahead with effective quality service utilization. Digitalization of the all sets of MSS, development of MSS to cover the existing type of the health facilities currently present in the country and access of data set for researchers is the way forward. Developing standards for national accreditation system and international collaboration is the next step to embrace. Furthermore, MSS gradually reported through self assessment of the health facilities with occasional monitoring by the local, provincial and federal government and gap fulfillment through routine annual work plan and budgeting is the future direction. It is high time MoHP moves ahead with service specific quality improvement tools integrated with MSS assessment prepare them for high quality health systems that can adapt to changing health needs and health shocks.
References
Odoch WD, Senkubuge F, Hongoro C. How has sustainable development goals declaration influenced health financing reforms for universal health coverage at the country level? A scoping review of literature. Globalization and Health. 2021;17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-021-00703-6[PubMed][FullText]
Yanful B, Kirubarajan A, Bhatia D, Mishra S, Allin S, Di Ruggiero E. Quality of care in the context of Universal Health Coverage: A Scoping Review. Health Research Policy and Systems. 2023;21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-022-00957-5[PubMed][FullText]
Shariff SR, Moin NH, Omar M. Location allocation modeling for healthcare facility planning in Malaysia. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 2012 May 1;62(4):1000-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2011.12.026
Kruk ME, Pate M. The Lancet global health Commission on high quality health systems 1 year on: progress on a global imperative. The Lancet global health. 2020 Jan 1;8(1):e30-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30485-1[PubMed][FullText]
Government of Nepal. National Health Policy 1991.Kathmandu: Government of Nepal
Marasini B. Health System Development in Nepal. JNMA: Journal of the Nepal Medical Association. 2020 Jan;58(221):65.https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.4839[PubMed][FullText]
Government of Nepal. Nepal Integrated Health Infrastructure Development Standards 2017. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health
Government of Nepal. Public Health Service Regulation 2020. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal
Ministry of Health and Population. Health Institution Establishment, Operation and Upgrading Standards. 2070 (revised 2078). Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Popualtion
Dangal G, Kashim Shah M. Minimum Service Standard: A Hospital Strengthening Program that Facilitates Hospitals' Attainment of Quality-of-Care Standards. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2022 Nov 2;20(2):i-iii. https://doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v20i02.4521
Thapa Pachya A, Government’s Efforts on Minimum Service Standards for Health Facilities in Nepal: Reducing Inequities in Access to Health Services. Nepali Health [Internet]. 2023 Jan 21. [Link]
Nepal Health Sector Strategy Program (NHSSP). Minimum Service Standards for Health Facilities: A tool for evidence-based planning and budgeting in health for local government. March 2019. Kathmandu: NHSSP
Fitall E, Pratt KJ, McCauley SM, Astrauskas G, Heck T, Hernandez B, Johnston J, Silver HJ, Mitchell K. Improving malnutrition in hospitalized older adults: the development, optimization, and use of a supportive toolkit. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2019 Sep 1;119(9):S25-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.05.024[FullText]
Wilt W, Levy B, Lantz S, Harris A. MP66-17 Towards Process Improvement: Development Of An Evaluation Tool To Identify Potential Patient Safety Hazards Pre-Operatively. The Journal of Urology. 2023 Apr 1;209(Supplement 4):e940. https://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003329.17 [Full Text]
Curative Service Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Hospital Management Strengthening Program (HMSP): Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Minimum Service Standards (MSS) of District Hospitals. 2015. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Nick Simons Institute. Annual Report- 2016-2017. Lalitpur: Nick Simons Institute.
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Quality Improvement of Primary Hospitals. 2019. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Quality Improvement of Secondary Hospitals (Basic Services). 2019. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Quality Improvement of Secondary Hospitals (Higher Services). 2019. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Quality Improvement of Tertiary Hospitals. 2019. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
World Health Organization. Monitoring the building blocks of Health Systems: A handbook of indicators and their measurement strategies [Internet]. 2010.
Curative Service Division, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: Checklist to Identify the Gaps in Quality Improvement of Health Posts. 2019. Kathmandu: Department of Health Services
Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards for Aushadhalaya.2022. Kathmandu: Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine
Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards for Ayurveda Health Center (District Level) .2022. Kathmandu: Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine
Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards for Ayurveda Hospital (Provincial Level) .2022. Kathmandu: Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine
Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards for Ayurveda Hospital (Central Level) .2022. Kathmandu: Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: A Readiness and Service Availability Tool to Improve Quality of Maternity and Gynecological Disease Hospital. 2022. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: A Readiness and Service Availability Tool to Improve Quality of Children Hospital. 2022. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: A Readiness and Service Availability Tool to Improve Quality of Infectious Disease Hospital. 2022. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population. Minimum Service Standards: A Readiness and Service Availability Tool to Improve Quality of Mental Hospital. 2022. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Ministry of Health and Population. MSS Implementation Guideline-2077. 2021. Kathmandu: Ministry of Health and Population
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Ambika Thapa Pachya, Uttam Pachya, Kapil Amgain, Madan Kumar Upadhyaya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author(s) retain the copyright and the full publishing right without restriction under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) which allows readers to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, provided the work is properly attributed. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Author(s) grant the non-exclusive publishing right to the Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (JKAHS). The publishing rights include the rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, include in indexes or search databases or other media in print or online. The JKAHS may require revisions to the manuscript before acceptance for publication or may choose not to publish it based on the judgement of the editors. Further, JKAHS might retract, withdraw, or publish a correction or other notice after publication, if such publication would be inconsistent with the good publication practices and associated guidelines set forth by the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
More information about the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License can be found in the webpage of Creative Commons (CC) by following the link provided below: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/