Development of Patient Safety in Our Country

The Health Transformation Program, launched by the Ministry of Health in 2002, consists of 8 components. Component 6 was declared as "Quality and Accreditation for Qualified and Effective Health Services". For this purpose, the National Quality and Accreditation Agency was established in an autonomous structure, taking into account all stakeholders of the sector, by examining the examples in developed countries.

Following the announcement of the Health Transformation Program, the "Department of Performance Management and Quality Development" was established within the Ministry of Health in 2007 in order to achieve quality and accreditation targets. As of 2012, it was renamed as the "Department of Quality and Accreditation in Health" under the General Directorate of Health Services with Decree Law No. 663.

In 2009, with the publication of "Private Hospital Service Quality Standards" for private hospitals and university hospitals, two sets of standards emerged, one for public hospitals and one for private hospitals and university hospitals. In 2011, the 4th version aimed to eliminate this difference and to establish common standards for all hospitals across the country. The latest version of the Quality Standards in Health (QHSS) - Hospital Set (Version-5.1) was published on July 1, 2015. As a result of years of work on quality in health, a concrete step was taken for the National Accreditation Institute. Law No. 6569 dated 19.11.2014 established the "Presidency of Health Institutes of Türkiye" (TUSEB), an organization with a public legal entity, scientific and administrative autonomy, and a special budget, and it was announced that one of the 6 institutes within its body would be the Turkish Health Services Quality and Accreditation Institute (TÜSKA).