IMHA develops quality assurance programme

The programme has been set up by the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) to provide a more effective and fair system that is reliable and specific to the delivery of medical care which is often inconsistent and varies in quality.

The quality assurance programmes needs to be independent so a charitable company, IMHA Quality, has been set up in the UK to be responsible for quality standards.

The IMHA quality assurance programme prioritises medical fitness examinations and plans to include maritime health quality assurance standards in occupational health advice to organisations, urgent treatment, rehabilitation and repatriation and telemedicine advice.

Official approval is currently open to any clinic or medical practice providing medical fitness examinations for seafarers. Modules covering port health care and repatriation, telemedical services and maritime occupational health advice will soon be developed for the programme.

By taking part in the quality assurance programme, doctors and clinics will be able to prove high standards of medical practice which are reliable for manning agencies, ship owners, seafarers and P&I companies.