Quality, Safety & People-centred Care

Patient and Family Council meeting, Batumi

Why it matters in the region

Around one in every ten patients is harmed in health care, and more than three million people die each year because of unsafe care. In primary and outpatient care, as many as four in ten patients may be harmed. Most of this harm is preventable.

Georgia went from having no form of healthcare accreditation to making independent international accreditation mandatory for state-funded hospitals. PHIG helped drive that change. The next step is to make quality and safety part of everyday care — and to give patients a real voice.

1 in 10patients is harmed in health care; more than 3 million deaths a year result from unsafe careSource: WHO, 2023

>50%of patient harm is preventable — up to 80% in primary and outpatient careSource: WHO, 2023

up to 15%reduction in the burden of harm is possible through good patient engagementSource: WHO

Share of patients harmed in health care (WHO estimates)

Hospital care1 in 10

Primary and outpatient careup to 4 in 10

Source: WHO, Patient safety fact sheet (2023)

Our approach

Accreditation is delivered by our alliance partner Accréditation Sans Frontières. PHIG works on everything around it: advocacy, preparation of facilities, patient engagement and the evidence that shows what works.

Patient safetySafety culture, incident learning and safe practice in hospitals and clinics.

Quality improvementPractical quality systems, indicators and continuous improvement.

Patient and family engagementA structured patient voice through Patient and Family Councils.

Accreditation supportPreparing facilities for accreditation with ASF and Accreditation Canada.

Projects and results

Selected work to date. Each entry shows years, role and result.

2014 – 2022

Advocacy for independent accreditation

PHIG · campaign lead

A ministerial order in 2022 made independent international accreditation mandatory for state-funded hospitals.

2021 – 2022

Pilot accreditation with ASF

Partner: Accréditation Sans Frontières

More than 50 facilities enrolled under an adapted Georgian standard; four accredited.

2023 – present

Accreditation Canada in Georgia

Official representative

23 facilities began international accreditation.

2024 – present

Patient and Family Councils

Participating hospitals

Councils in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi give patients a structured voice in hospital policy.

Evidence, tools and resources

Programmes and history

Partners

GMJ thematic platforms

Research, policy analysis and curated resources on this topic are published in the Georgian Medical Journal’s thematic platform and knowledge hub.

PHIG–GMJ knowledge hubHealthcare Accreditation, Quality of Care & Patient SafetyEvidence, standards and system-level approaches to quality improvement and patient safety.Open knowledge hub →on gmj.ge ↗

Experts

Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhDChair, Public Health Institute of Georgia

Former WHO staff member (Noncommunicable Diseases, Geneva); principal public health adviser to the Prime Minister of Georgia during COVID-19 (2020–22); member of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel (2016–21); humanitarian and development work in more than 25 countries. Former Deputy CEO of Evex Medical Corporation, responsible for strategy and quality of care; initiated Georgia’s accreditation advocacy in 2014.

Partners

Work with us

We are looking for partners for patient safety, quality improvement and patient engagement programmes in the region.

Patient-safety culture surveys in hospitals and clinics
Set-up and facilitation of Patient and Family Councils
Preparation of facilities for accreditation with ASF
Training in quality improvement and incident learning

Working on patient safety or quality of care in the region?We join consortia, co-author research and deliver training.

Propose a partnership