Revised Hospital Accreditation Standards in Lebanon- December 2022

The health care system has been adversely impacted by multi-dimensional crisis, including the economic collapse, COVID-19 pandemic, Beirut Port explosion, and socio-political unrest. The unavailability and increased cost of basic commodities such as fuel and electricity has further challenged an overburdened system.

Maintaining the quality of care and patient safety in the midst of the challenges facing health institutions remains a priority and constitutes a guarantee for quality services. Maintaining quality standards saves lives, contributes to alleviating the financial burden, and reserves the position of high-level health services on the health map in the region.

After a long period of pausing the Accreditation process in Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health is working again to revive this very important project that has started since 2001 and was updated and improved over time.  For the purpose of improving and updating the current hospital accreditation system in Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health aimed to revise and develop new Lebanese hospital accreditation standards according to latest evidence and international best practices, in compliance with International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) requirements.

Since January 2022, and under the great support of AFD (Agence Française de Développement), a cooperation agreement was signed between the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the French Health Authority (HAS) for a new iteration of the accreditation project in collaboration, in collaboration with the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) as a local counterpart to ensure logistical, educational and administrative support. The governance of the program kept the current organizational structure: the Comité National d’Accréditation Hospitalière (CNAH) and the Comité Technique d’Accréditation Hospitalière (CTAH). In addition to a new unit created at the Ministry of Health as the operational structure, the Bureau d’Accréditation et d’Evaluation (BAE) to follow-up on the implementation of the project. The revision of the procedure and the manual was performed by local and international experts.

The Ministry of Public Health announces the official publication of the new accreditation standards manual for hospitals. The present version has been updated to include “intent”  sections for each standard, aiming at allowing hospitals better comprehend and meet the requirements of the standards.

For any inquiry, please contact the Accreditation office at the MOPH by email on:
accreditation@moph.gov.lb or ritafreiha@hotmail.com