Twenty-one local healthcare workers have been appointed by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards as accreditation surveyors for assessing the quality and safety of Hong Kong hospitals.

The Australian-based council is an internationally reputed hospital accrediting agency designated by the Pilot Scheme on Hospital Accreditation in Hong Kong as the accreditor.

The appointees will have the same professional status as their counterparts in Australia and worldwide. They will conduct accreditation surveys of pilot hospitals together with other surveyors from the council.

Noting hospital accreditation is adopted worldwide as a measure to enhance service quality, Deputy Director of Health Dr Gloria Tam said the pilot scheme will derive a common quality assurance system for international recognition of public and private hospitals in Hong Kong. Dr Tam is also the Steering Committee on Hospital Accreditation chairperson.

Five public hospitals and three private hospitals have joined the three-year pilot scheme, which will be completed next year.

Dr Tam congratulated the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital as the first local institution to receive the council's accreditation on March 4. With the preparation work for accreditation for the remaining hospitals in good progress, she said she hopes more hospitals will be accredited soon.