The unit is house with three staff, director, Quality Assurance and Allied Health Coordinators. The Regulatory (Licensing and Accreditation) Unit, Ministry of Health & Wellness is the unit that ensures an ongoing quality monitoring process within the Ministry of Health & Wellness to determine whether health services are delivering the quality care patients have a right to expect and meeting the relevant required standards. We review and make recommendations for licensure of health facilities and allied health professionals.
Licensing and Accreditation Unit
To ensure that health care is managed and delivered with highest level of quality through legislations, regulations, standards, services, safe medical equipment and supplies and credentialed professionals.
The objectives of the Regulatory Unit are to:
- Establish licensing requirements and ensure the licensing of health services and health facilities in Belize.
- Ensure ongoing Accreditation of Health services/facilities
- Develops standards for inpatient and outpatient health facilities
- Monitors compliance clinical standards
- Training for health professionals
- Evaluating health care delivery systems
Licensure: Definition- the process by which a government authority grants permission to an individual practice or health care organization to operate or engage in an operation or profession.
Licensure standards serve to define the quality level requirements for safe delivery of patient care or health services. They also define the capabilities required for a health care organization to be able to advertise to its public that it is a hospital or health center. When the Ministry of Health grants a license to an organization, that license signifies its permission for the organization to be open and providing care or services to patients.
Licensing and Accreditation includes issuance of license for the establishment of health facilities. In so doing, verification of professional license shall be a part of the inspection criteria for health facilities this will be done in conjunction with professional councils and associations namely; Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacists, Allied Health, professional bodies /organizations.
Licensing and Accreditation function shall be executed by the Director of the unit along with lead representatives from other professional groups who will be trained to efficiently perform the functions of surveyors: Medical Technology, Pharmacy, Imaging, and Hospital Administration.
The Director of Regulatory (Licensing and Accreditation) Unit shall be responsible to train inspection teams and coordinate activities for site inspections of health facilities/services.
Services
- Licensing of Health facilities and Allied Health Professionals
- Processing of application license.
- Monitoring of health facilities compliances in areas of quality care, occupational safety, structural requirements, patient safety and right etc.
- Developed, review and revised facilities quality improvement and assurance guideline, norms, standards and policies.
- Conduct inspection of all health facilities for licensure compliance and renewal and develop inspection reports for licensure approval.
- Execute patient satisfaction survey to review service satisfaction.
- Develops regulations, standards, policies and procedures for inpatient and outpatient health facilities
- Monitors and evaluates compliance clinical standards
Department Contact Information
Department Phone: +501-828 4468
Fax Number: +501-828 4457
Department Email: Licensing.accreditation@health.gov.bz
Support Staff:
Nedia Romero – Quality Assurance Coordinator- nromero@health.gov.bz
Desiree Romero – Allied Health Coordinator – desiree.romero@health.gov.bz