Draft National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards releasd

Practice accreditation is coming, and it will be based on national standards to ensure consistency and transparency. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) recently released a consultation paper on the Draft National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.

The initial five Standards, were released for consultation in November 2009. These Standards are:

• Governance for Safety and Quality in Health Service Organisations, which provides the framework for Health Service Organisations as they implement safe systems

• Healthcare-Associated Infection, which describes the standard expected to prevent infection of patients within the healthcare system and to manage infections effectively when they occur to minimise their consequences

• Medication Safety, which describes the standard expected to ensure clinicians prescribe, dispense and administer appropriate and safe medication to informed patients

• Patient Identification and Procedure Matching, which specifies the expected processes for identification of patients and correctly matching their identity with the correct treatment

• Clinical Handover, which describes the requirement for effective clinical communication whenever accountability and responsibility for a patient’s care is transferred.

The five new draft Standards are:

• Partnering for Consumer Engagement, which creates a consumer-centred health system by including consumers in the design and delivery of quality health care

• Blood and Blood Product Safety, which sets the standard to ensure that the patients who receive blood and blood products are safe

• Prevention and Management of Pressure Ulcers, which specifies the expected standard to prevent patients developing pressure ulcers and best-practice management when pressure ulcers occur

• Recognising and Responding to Clinical Deterioration in Acute Health Care, which describes the systems required by health services responding to patients when their clinical condition deteriorates

• Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls, which describes the standards for reducing the incidence of patient falls in Health Service Organisations.

The highlighted standard will apply in all healthcare settings, including dental practices.  Members are therefore encouraged to review this material as background to their involvement in accreditation processes over the coming years. 

The ACSQHC is now seeking comment on the five new draft Standards  before piloting and final consideration by Health Ministers in early 2011.  Members wishing to offer feedback via the ADA are invited to send their comments to me at garry.pearson@adavb.org