JEDDAH: A Saudi Red Crescent Society medical supervisor has received a health facility assessment certificate from the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), the first award of its kind anywhere in the world. Dr. Taimour Jan, a supervisor at the Makkah Red Crescent’s air ambulance service, said that the government’s support for the health sector had helped it to make “significant strides,” which had led to the awarding of the certificate. Jan told Arab News that he gained the accreditation for passing a course called “Fundamentals of External Evaluation Surveying,” which provided him with a critical insight into assessment methodologies, approaches and techniques. “ISQua, through its 30 years of experience, seeks to develop health care professionals’ capabilities. They have introduced this course that provides people with knowledge to help them in assisting in their health facilities.” He added that the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Health Care Institutions played an important role in enhancing the quality of services in facilities across the country, allowing Saudi health care system to keep pace with other nations. He also said that the future of the sector was bright, given the number of resources being allocated to education in the Kingdom, describing young Saudis as “determined and able.” “The support of the government provides a fertile training environment for young Saudis to develop and achieve their goals in health care provision,” he concluded. Improving the health care services in the Kingdom is one of the key goals of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020. In order to boost the health care sector and improve the performance of hospitals in Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry is effectively pursuing the implementation of Adaa standards. Adaa, the National Center for Performance Measurement, is tasked with performance measurement of government entities. It involves providing tools, frameworks and educational support, which enables better measurement and development. The program features over 40 indicators to measure the performance of seven key therapeutic aspects including emergency, clinics, surgeries, hospitalization, intensive care, radiology and labs. The program also aims to develop the skills of health professionals and to enable them to effectively use these performance indicators.