New Delhi: A dashboard that will aid health facilities across the country in monitoring compliance of prescribed standards of healthcare delivery will be launched by Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Friday, officials said. The Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) guidelines, introduced in 2007 and updated periodically with the latest update in 2022, set quality benchmarks for public health facilities from primary to secondary level health care facilities, a Health Ministry statement said.
These standards ensure consistent, accessible, and accountable healthcare services nationwide. All public health institutions are encouraged to carry out assessments and strive towards bridging the identified gaps, it said.
Two other initiatives – a virtual NQAS assessment for Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM) sub-centres and a new functionality for the instant issuance of licenses and registrations through the Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS) will also be launched by Nadda on Friday, they said.
The new initiatives represent a significant innovation in the quality assurance framework for public health facilities as a time and cost-saving measure.
Through this system, the virtually assessed health AAM-SC will be conferred with the NQAS (National Quality Assurance Standards) certificate. NQAS for Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) located at district hospitals will be released during the event.
The standards will improve the quality and competence of management and testing systems in IPHLs which will positively impact the reliability of test results and help gain the trust of clinicians, patients and the public regarding lab outputs. Revised guidelines for Kayakalp will also be released Friday, the statement said.
“A ground-breaking new functionality for the instant issuance of licenses and registrations through the Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS) will also be launched. FoSCoS is a state-of-the-art, pan-India IT platform designed to address all food safety regulatory needs,” it said.
“This innovative system simplifies the licensing and registration processes, offering an enhanced user experience,” the statement added.
