The Greater Chennai Corporation is set to enhance the accessibility and quality of services in urban primary health centers (UPHCs) by obtaining certification from the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS). Senior officials recently convened to assess the progress of these initiatives within the framework of the Chennai City Partnership of the World Bank.

The civic body aims to Improve infection control practices, patient care, clinical services, and overall quality management within UPHCs. This program is expected to allow residents to identify well-performing hospitals through certification, thus boosting the credibility of public healthcare facilities. The UPHC in Koyambedu has already received NQAS accreditation, while inspection dates have been scheduled for five additional UPHCs, including the Korattur UPHC.

AIADMK Councillor J. John highlighted the potential benefits for underserved areas like Patravakkam and Korattur, emphasizing the need for better drinking water facilities and flood protection work. The proposed improvements are expected to greatly benefit patients and enhance healthcare services in the region.

The Greater Chennai Corporation will increase the number of urban primary health centres (UPHCs) and secondary care centres that have a certification from the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) programme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Senior officials on Monday conducted a meeting to review the progress of such projects covered in the Chennai City Partnership of the World Bank. The civic body will Improve infection control practices, patient care, clinical services, and quality management UPHCs. The programme is expected to help residents recognise the good performing hospitals based on the certification, improving the credibility of public hospitals.

The UPHC in Koyambedu has been accredited to NQAS. Five more UPHCs are due for inspection and dates have been given for the Korattur UPHC. AIADMK Councillor J. John of ward 84 in Ambattur zone said the poor residents of areas, such as Patravakkam and Korattur, were expected to benefit from the improvement of the UPHC in Korattur.

“Currently, more than 50 outpatients visit the hospital every day. The civic body has proposed improvement work in the Korattur UPHC. Residents are waiting for the launch of the work. They have requested an RO plant for better drinking water also. Flood protection work to prevent waterlogging on the premises of Korattur UPHC should be taken up ahead of the monsoon,” Mr. John said.

Before the launch of the programme to Improve access to services in UPHCs, the GCC did not have a quality care strategy and an operational plan. No UPHC in the city was providing at least seven of the 12 comprehensive primary health care service packages before the launch of the Chennai City Partnership with the World Bank.

Currently, five UPHCs are providing at least seven of the 12 CPHC services in the city, officials said.

Tamil Nadu has so far received 478 National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certifications and 77 LaQshya (Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative) certifications, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Saturday.

NQAS certificates were awarded to hospitals that had good standards and full-fledged infrastructure in place from 2013-2014. Of the total 478 certifications received in 10 years, the State was awarded 239 NQAS certifications in the last year alone, he said. The Minister added that Tamil Nadu ranked top for the most number of NQAS-certified primary health centres. Taking the entire medical infrastructure into account, the State was declared to be in the third position last year, according to a press release.

He said measures are being taken to Improve facilities at hospitals such as constructing additional buildings and required laboratories to take the top position in the country in the coming years.

Till last year, the State had received 24 LaQshya certifications. Last year alone, 43 certifications were granted by the Union government, taking the total number so far to 77, he added.

The Minister presented the certificates to a doctor and nurse from each of the hospitals. He said that a board mentioning that the hospital was NQAS certified would be displayed at these facilities.

Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Mission Director of National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu Shilpa Prabhakar Satish and Directors T. S. Selvavinayagam (Public Health and Preventive Medicine) and R. Shanthimalar (Medical Education) were present.

 — OPINION —

On July 29 the International Food Industry Think Tank discussed “Energizing Food Safety and Quality Assurance Transformation Process.” That discussion inspired the launching of the Safety, Security, and Quality Assurance (2S-QA) Movement on Aug. 2. The premise for this movement comes from this understanding:

“If we do not energize the Food Industry Transformation Process through the direct actions of every stakeholder, our good intentions, aspirations, and proposals will only hover aimlessly in the space of academic and theoretical discourse without realizing desirable results.”

By coincidence or through providence, the Netflix documentary “Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food” (Soechtig, 2023) was also released on Aug. 2. It calls for action to prevent future food-related tragedies. The food industry needs a radical paradigm shift along the lines of the proposed SSQA transformation recommendations:

 A transition from restrictive and confusing rules to having useful tools; from an obsession with superficial third-party certifications to fortifying food operations against food safety and quality failures; from rights and responsibility contracts to participatory alliance agreements; from collaboration with separate interests to working together with synchronized interests; from micro-managed to auto-managed systems; the transformation of operation personnel into active safety, security and quality assurance practitioners; the transition of managers from fire fighters to visionaries; from certification scheme owners to technical information providers; from certification bodies to facilitation service providers, from auditors to facilitators. Regulators are expected to maintain their role of enforcing the laws and regulations as the only necessary and legally enforced rules.

If you have seen the documentary “Poisoned,” how did it make you feel? To stop eating would be an impossible position to take in response to the documentary. To eat, with one’s fingers crossed shows a blind trust. 

Uncertainty about what one person could do to prevent food poisoning outbreaks tend to force people to take the fingers-crossed approach. Hopefully, that uncertainty will provide way to increased assurance as we develop and deploy relevant actions. Where we have complete control over our food, for example, in our gardens and kitchens, we could act to prevent hazardous food contamination. 

Realistically, we do not have complete control over every item of food that we need. We depend on other people and food companies. As such, we need the collaboration and cooperation of everyone throughout the food supply network. We need to deploy the SSQA participatory alliance (SSQA-PA) strategy. Predictably, the 2S-QA movement will accelerate the development and deployment of SSQA-PA strategies.

Under ordinary circumstances, the required level of collaboration and cooperation may seem impossible. However, the direct and consistent mobilization of all stakeholders through the 2S-QA Movement should help. Food safety, security, and quality assurance efforts need to be maintained by individuals, businesses, corporations, academic institutions, industry associations, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, community associations, governments (law enforcement and regulatory agencies).

 Problems often arise where the parties that must collaborate have different motives. Identifying and agreeing on what really matters unifies the motives and focus of collaborators. It may take time for the diverse groups to agree on what really matters and be committed to a unified focus. At the same time, reaching a consensus could happen quickly through the deliberate mobilization. If we become rightly motivated and mobilized, things could rapidly Improve to the benefit everyone and the planet.

 The 2S-QA movement and the “Poisoned” documentary have the capacity to fuel the needed mobilization. The industry must stop practices that caused past tragedies and the chronic health problems that victims are still experiencing.

 The 2S-QA movement provides a platform for us to decisively act. We can and must act, right where we are, in our kitchens, workplaces, through broader industry engagements, through national and global programs. This movement should be supported by anyone who wishes to engage in direct and progressive action. Food business managers are encouraged to follow the SSQA Implementations Manual (Amiri, 2022) as their pathfinder guide.

The 2S-QA movement, as a universal mandate, exists to galvanize and energize industry stakeholders with the anticipated outcome of an equitable, trustworthy, and healthy food system for the benefit of all consumers and the planet. You have the choice of how you wish to participate.

We must together drive observable good results both in the short and long terms. Hopefully, the results will prove the usefulness of our collective engagement. Visit the web site for additional information: https://afisservices.wixsite.com/2s-qa-movement

References
Amiri, F. (2022, December). Global Consumer Protection SSQA Development and Implementation: A Manual for the Food Industry. Retrieved June 16, 2023, from Afisservices.com: http://www.afisservices.com/gcse-fhp/SSQAFullManual.html

Soechtig, S. (Producer). (2023). Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food [Motion Picture]. Retrieved August 2, 2023, from https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81460481?src=tudum&trackId=259776131&trkId=259776131

About the author: Felix Amiri is the Technical Director at Amiri Food Industry Support Services (AFISS). He leads an International Food Industry Think Tank with meetings held monthly. Felix teaches part time at Conestoga College, Institute of Food Processing Technology, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, and regularly engages in industry discussion panels. He leads the Safety Security, and Quality Assurance (SSQA) Development Academy. He recently launched the SSQA-Based 2S-QA Movement (details available upon request). 

His published works and books include:

The Safety, Security and Quality Assurance (SSQA) Implementation Manual. Felix has written several articles dealing with different matters pertaining to the food industry. 

His published books, available on Amazon, include:

Food Protection Diaries

FSQA–Efficacy versus Compliance

FSQA-Commitment Plans for National & International Regulations

FSQA-A Survey of Food Laws and Regulations

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The cost to hire an elder law attorney depends on which legal services are needed, the city or region in which you live and the level of the attorney’s experience and education in elder law. For conventional estate planning documents alone, the fee could range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of the estate, says Johns.

An initial holistic consultation for asset preservation could be free, or it could cost up to $1,000, depending on various factors, including standard prices for legal fees in your city or town. Other factors that can raise the fee include dysfunctional family members who create conflict, whether there’s significant wealth and whether there are family members with special needs, such as an adult with a disability, says Johns.

After the initial consultation, the elder law attorney tells you what legal services they can offer and the fee associated with these services. The fee could be an hourly rate with a retainer fee or a flat fee. Because there are so many different people and family relationships, types of engagements and variations of fees and amounts, elder law attorney fees vary greatly, says Johns.

Below is a range of fees and examples of how much you might pay for an elder law attorney’s services, depending on the legal services you need.

• Guardianship and appointment of a guardian: $350 to $650 an hour
• Probate of wills and decedent’s estate administration: $250 to $350 an hour, although the rate would be less—$100 to $150 an hour—if the work is performed by paralegals with attorney supervision
• Holistic package of asset preservation documents for a spouse of someone with Alzheimer’s disease who has $1.7 million in various deferred benefits, annuities and properties, a paid-off mortgage on a house worth $590,000, and adult children creating family conflict: $8,000 to $16,000