An Overview of Central Board for the Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions in Saudi Arabia: A Narrative Review.

This study aimed to synthesise current Saudi-based literature on (i) factors that enable or hinder compliance with Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI) requirements and (ii) the recognised impact of accreditation on patient safety and infection control. A narrative review was undertaken. Nineteen empirical studies published between January 2015 and May 2025 were retrieved. Study characteristics, methodological designs, and principal outcomes were extracted, and findings were thematically grouped into enablers, infection control outcomes, patient safety effects, pre-/post-quality comparisons, and barriers to compliance. Most investigations were hospital-based cross-sectional surveys or audits conducted in Riyadh, Makkah/Jeddah, and Dammam; four involved primary healthcare centres and two examined mixed hospital networks. Successful implementation of CBAHI was consistently linked to strong executive leadership, continuous staff training, robust quality management systems, and adequate resource allocation. Infection control standards (especially committee functionality and isolation protocols) and hand-hygiene adherence presented marked improvements after accreditation, with private and larger hospitals outperforming public and smaller facilities. Five of six patient safety studies reported significant gains in incident reporting culture, medication error reduction, or healthcare-associated infection rates, yet changes in hard clinical outcomes and occupational safety climate were less consistent. Key barriers to sustained compliance included weak IT infrastructure, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), time pressure, high staff turnover, inadequate management support, and an underdeveloped national health information system. CBAHI accreditation is associated with measurable advances in infection control and selected patient safety indicators across Saudi healthcare settings, but its full potential is inhibited by organisational and systemic bottlenecks. Embedding accreditation within everyday practice, investing in digital infrastructure and workforce development, and strengthening leadership accountability are important to transforming CBAHI from an episodic certification exercise into a continuous driver of healthcare excellence.