The Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards on Wednesday 26th July held a meeting of the Technical Committee for Health Products and Practices. Chaired by Ira Isaacs and Vice Chair Heidi Khodra-Jaganath the meeting aimed at the adoption and further development of key standards dealing with Health Care, Facilities and devices. As talk of Universal Health Care is again taking centre stage within the local news these standards aim to raise the bar of the services provided to the people of Saint Lucia. Recently DNS 24 Code of Practice for Healthcare Facilities – General was circulated for public comment and will soon be adopted.
The public comment period allows for a review by the general public of a proposed draft standard. This means the public can have an input in the adoption of a standard, ensuring that the societal needs are reflected.
This will be the first of a suite of Health Standards developed and adopted by the SLBS. The aim of this standard is to assist healthcare professionals in their role of protecting the public. By setting and maintaining standards of healthcare practice, it serves as a means of standardization and sets requirements; for the healthcare sector that can be used for certification and preparation for accreditation. This gives guidelines for conduct of health care providers operating in Saint Lucia within the public and private sector. This code of practice applies to:
- allied health practitioners;
- physicians;
- phlebotomists;
- dentists;
- nurses;
- pharmacists;
- and other healthcare providers otherwise not specified.
The Technical Committee consists of Health Care professionals and administrators, as well as staff of the SLBS Standards Development Department who serve as Technical Secretaries supporting the process and our Health experts in the work of developing the standards.
If you would like to get involved in the development of standards you can go to our website www.slbs.org, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Call us at +1 (758) 453 0049 or email us at info@slbs.org or slbs@candw.lc.
If you have an idea for a standard go to our website, scroll down the home page to the bottom where it says “Suggest a New Work Item; Do you have a need for a Standard?” Or Click Here!!!
