Numerous violations found in 95 clinics monitored by Regulation Agency for Medical Activities
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, August 20
The first stage of monitoring was conducted throughout one month. According to the Agency, the complex monitoring process is continuing in medical institutions.
“The monitoring will be conducted throughout the country without prior notice. Specific conditions will be checked at each clinic for infrastructure, equipment, medical personnel, control of infection measures, internal quality system functioning, as well as the delivery of medical assistance, which all are the basis for the quality and safety of medical services,” said the acting head of the State Regulation Agency for Medical Activities Zaal Kapanadze.
According to Kapanadze, the cases related to ineffective disinfection and sterilization have been relatively high at this stage.
“At this stage, there were no violations that were copious, however issues relating to disinfection and sterilization were more pronounced in this phase,” noted Kapanadze.
Also according to him, the complex monitoring has shown that in several medical facilities some doctors were working without appropriate certificates.
“Any physician who works at a hospital must be certified. During the complex monitoring, we checked the certificates and some doctors worked without them. We responded accordingly,” Kapanadze said.
Kapanadze stated that the clinics were given a reasonable time to correct the violations.
“After a reasonable time, the clinic will be re-examined and if no action is taken, an administrative offence report will again be written and certain time will be given to correct the violations. In general, the legislation on the matter is quite lenient and flexible. It does not explicitly envisage closing the clinic at this stage. Just where there is a violation, the clinic in that segment is no longer able to provide the particular service,” Zaal Kapanadze noted.
The Agency, which functions under the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, stated that based on the results of the monitoring, effective measures will be taken to further improve medical services in the country.
In the past five years, Georgia has seen significant reforms in the healthcare system. The universal health coverage programme was launched in 2013, to extend basic coverage. However, numerous challenges are remaining in the quality and effective delivery of medical services.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2018 study on the primary health care in Georgia, there are many challenges that the clinics in Georgia face in terms of primary health care, including the lack of accessibility to specialists and inpatient care in the rural areas.
“Primary health care providers are rarely held accountable for their performance. Information about providers is mainly limited to financial reimbursement for services rendered. Inspection, supervision, and feedback are absent,” reads the study.
According to the study, the rural doctors, despite the conditions, maintain an approach to services more following the principles of primary health care.
“They [the rural doctors] are poorly coordinated with other providers and work without supervision or feedback. The only information they provide is an aggregate annual report on health services. Despite these conditions, they appear to uphold an approach to services more following the principles of primary health care: they feel accountable to their population and manage patients’ needs and diseases more holistically, resulting in fewer referrals to specialists. An explanation for this is the fact that they operate in a context of less accessibility to specialists and inpatient care,” reads the WHO report.
The report also assesses the work of the State Regulation Agency for Medical Activities, saying that “its capacity to carry out inspections and enforce providers’ compliance with standards is limited, partly because of lack of personnel.”