AdOPTiON OF THE wHO A SSESSmENT TOOL ON THE Qu ALiTy OF H OSPiTAL CArE FOr mOTHErS ANd NEwBO rNS iN ALBANiA

Aim: the aim of the adoption process of the “Quality of hospital care for mothers and new borns babies, assessment tool” (WH o, 2009) was to provide the albanian health profession als of maternity hospitals with a tool that may help them assess the quality of perinatal care and identify key areas of pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care that need to be improved. Methods: Four maternity hospitals (one university hospital and three regional hospitals) were selected for the assessment using this standard tool covering over 600 items grouped into 13 areas ranging from supportive services to case management. Sources of information consisted of site visits, hospital statistics, medical records, observation of cases and interviews with staff and patients. a score was assigned to each item (range 0-3) and area of care. t he assessments were carried