CONJOINT PROFESSOR ANNE DUGGAN Chief Medical Officer, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Raising the bar for primary and community health care
Australia’s first National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards
that safety and quality systems are in place. While accreditation will be voluntary, in some
(the Standards) are set to transform the healthcare
instances regulators or funders of healthcare
landscape by providing the right framework to
services, such as state and territory health
raise the bar across the sector.
departments, may also require healthcare services
Since the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care, launched the Standards in October 2021, they have garnered significant interest from local health services across the country. Over the coming months, the Australian
to be accredited to the Standards as part of licensing and contractual arrangements. Primary and community healthcare services that are likely to become accredited to the national Standards can generally be categorised into three
Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
main groups — those new to standards, those
(the Commission) is gearing up to help healthcare
aligned with sector-specific standards, and those
services embed the Standards into everyday
who will transition from the National Safety and
practice, where safety and quality improvements
Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.
may be realised. A key driver will be accreditation, where a
At the Commission, we recognise the diversity in the sector and the differing stages of readiness
healthcare service is independently assessed to
and engagement, and we are implementing a
verify implementation of the Standards, which
flexible approach to support all healthcare services
provides important assurances to the community
to embed the Standards into day-to-day practice.
The Health Advocate • FEBRUARY 2022
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