The accreditation and standardization process of public health institutions in Macedonia begins on Monday.

Directors of public health institutions from the secondary and tertiary level were provided Sunday with a set of measures they need to undertake within prescribed timeframes in order to meet the accreditation standards.

The objective is to secure a standardized level of quality of health services in all public health institutions throughout Macedonia, i.e. enhance the healthcare system upon the model of developed countries.

"The Ministry has already distributed good practice models to all institutions, which should facilitate the process of drafting the documents. It is important that media continually monitor the activities so that we jointly contribute to swifter and more successful implementation of the accreditation system", said Health Minister Nikola Todorov at today's press conference.

He added the accreditation standards were divided in chapters - leadership, human resources, information management, patient risk and security management, patient treatment and specific clinical services.

"The Health Ministry and the newly-established Agency for Quality and Accreditation of Heath Institutions will be fully focused on the process of meeting criteria towards accreditation", said Todorov.

He stressed that Macedonia has opted for the French model of accreditation of health institutions.