Quality

Our organisation provides safe, high-quality care. However, we always want to learn more and improve, wherever possible. That is why we constantly ask our patients about their experiences and measure our results. We also have our quality examined externally by the government and external organisations. Thanks to this approach, we have obtained a number of quality labels.

Of the hospitalised patients, 97% would recommend Maria Middelares General Hospital to family and friends.

The hospital believes it is important to chart patient experiences. This is done in a variety of ways:

You’re not just a number to us.

• Interviews and focus groups
  
• Direct feedback
  
• Information from suggestions and complaints
• Patient questionnaire

Besides our own patient surveys, we also participate in the surveys organised by the Flemish Institute for Quality of Care (VIKZ). Using the results, we can position ourselves in relation to other Flemish hospitals.

• You can find the results of Maria Middelares General Hospital here.
• The results of St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze can be found here.

Flemish Institute for Quality and Care (formerly Flemish Indicators Project)

The Flemish Institute for Quality and Care brings physicians, professional organisations and scientists in different groups together to work on the quality of care. Together they determine the standard for each topic and what health care providers should measure. We call these indicators. Our hospitals contribute actively.

What do we measure?

• Breast cancer: diagnosis, treatment and survival rate
• Lung cancer: diagnosis and survival rate
• Rectal cancer: survival rate
• Patient experiences: survey of patients and analysis of the hospital website
• Hospital-wide: medication safety, basic hand hygiene requirements for health care providers, correct identification of patients, a standardised checklist for safe operations

The results

The results can be found at www.zorgkwaliteit.be.

• You can find the results of Maria Middelares General Hospital here.
• The results of St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze can be found here.

Health care inspection

The Flemish government supervises the quality delivered by hospitals. To this end, they perform unannounced checks on various care journeys that patients undertake.

The reports can be found on the Health care Inspection website.

JCI accreditation for Maria Middelares General Hospital

Maria Middelares General Hospital also wants to compare its quality with foreign hospitals. The hospital chose to be tested by the American Joint Commission International (JCI). This organisation focuses on the patient and evaluates in a practice-oriented way. Patient experiences also count in the evaluation.

In 2016, Maria Middelares General Hospital received its first international JCI quality label. A second accreditation followed in 2019, and a third in 2022.

The auditors emphasised that quality and patient safety must not remain theoretical targets but must be truly embraced by the entire organisation. ‘You are performing at a high level, and the comments we provide often concern the more minor opportunities for improvement,’ said one of the auditors. Accreditation focuses on understanding organisation-specific risks and on systematic and continuous improvement.

Qualicor Europe accreditation for St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze

St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze was accredited by Qualicor Europe for the second time in 2022. With this international label, our hospital shows that it meets strict international standards of quality and patient safety. View the audit report below.

ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certification for information security

In June 2023, Maria Middelares General Hospital obtained ISO 27001 certification for information security. This is THE standard for information security. Its focus is on information security, with the objective of ensuring confidentiality, availability and integrity in our hospital.

ISO 15189 for laboratory (Clinical Biology Department)

Our laboratory received ISO 15189 certification from the Belgian accreditation body Belac in April 2020.

That means that the lab:

• has the technical competence to generate the correct lab results;
• provides high-quality care to the patients;
• has an elaborate and functional quality system.

Our hospital improves the quality of care on the basis of information such as patient feedback, quality indicators, inspection reports, complaints, incidents, etc.

Learn more about our achievements in our annual report.

Want to report a complaint or incident yourself? Or pass on a suggestion?

Let us know through this contact form of the ombudsperson service

Contact the Quality Control Unit

Digitally via kwaliteit@mijnziekenhuis.be.