PharmAccess mobilizes public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, mHealth innovations and operational research.
PharmAccess has been accredited by the Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS), adding independent assurance to the certification process behind SafeCare, our quality improvement programme.
Patients need to be able to trust the care they receive. Healthcare providers need a credible way to show the quality of that care. Both depend on confidence in the organisations that assess and certify health services.
KENAS has accredited PharmAccess as a Management Systems Certification Body, valid until September 2029. Concretely, this means an independent body has checked how we certify health facilities through SafeCare and confirmed that we do it competently, consistently and impartially. Our processes were measured against ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, the international standard for organisations that audit and certify management systems.
“This is not simply a certificate on the wall. It is a public promise that when SafeCare says a health facility meets a standard, Kenya and the world can trust that judgement,” said Millicent Olulo, SafeCare Country Director in Kenya.
From assessment to better care
Improving quality starts with knowing what needs to change. A facility owner investing in better services, a county planning its health budget and an insurer choosing which providers to work with all need reliable evidence of quality.
SafeCare gives them a structured way to assess health facilities, identify gaps and support continuous improvement. Its standards are recognised internationally through the International Society for Quality in Health Care’s External Evaluation Association. That recognition covers the standards themselves. KENAS accreditation now covers the way we certify facilities against them.
Over the past 16 years, PharmAccess has used the SafeCare Quality Improvement Standards to reach more than 13,000 health facilities in 27 countries. Working with healthcare providers and partners, we help facilities turn assessment findings into practical improvements and stronger quality systems.
Assessment findings can also help governments and healthcare purchasers make decisions. But none of this improves care on its own. What counts is the action facilities take, the improvements they keep up, and the difference those make to patients.
Supporting Kenya’s plans for quality and patient safety
As Kenya works towards Universal Health Coverage, giving more people access to care has to come with better quality of care. The proposed Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill points to a stronger focus on quality standards, facility accreditation and patient safety.
Setting standards is only the start. Making them work will depend on reliable assessment, accountability, and healthcare providers being able to turn quality requirements into everyday practice. With KENAS accreditation, SafeCare certification can help facilities prepare for these new expectations.
Recognised beyond Kenya
KENAS is a member of international accreditation networks. Through that membership, SafeCare certification now sits within a framework recognised well beyond Kenya, and a SafeCare certificate carries weight with partners in the region and around the world.
