Primary and Community Healthcare Standards for Private Dental Practices
The Australian Dental Association has been working diligently with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) in the development of the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards (the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards).
The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards apply to Australian primary healthcare and community services that are involved in the direct care of their patients and consumers.
The ADA has confirmed that the accreditation program for private dental practices will transfer from the National Standards for Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (first edition) to the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards from 1 May 2024. Prior to this date, private dental practices will continue to be assessed against the NSQHS Standards (first edition).
QIP is approved the Commission as an accrediting agency under the AHSSQA Scheme.
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About the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards for private dental practices
The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards were developed and are governed by the Commission as part of the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation (AHSSQA) Scheme. The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards and AHSSQA Scheme are designed to deliver a consistent level of safe and high-quality care across health services in Australia.
The AHSSQA Scheme aims to provide national coordination of accreditation processes across Australian health service organisations. To achieve accreditation as part of the AHSSQA Scheme, health services are independently assessed against the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards.
Accreditation for dental practices to the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards is a voluntary process.
The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards overview
The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards were developed by the Commission to drive the implementation of safety and quality systems, and improvements to the quality of healthcare in Australia. The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards provide a mechanism to enable the systematic review of complex systems and a way of tracking changes in the safety and quality of patient care.
The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards are person-centred and provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care consumers can expect from health service organisations across Australia in a primary and community setting.
The three Primary and Community Healthcare Standards are:
- Clinical Governance
- Partnering with Consumers
- Clinical Safety.
The Clinical Governance Standard and the Partnering with Consumers Standard set the overarching requirements, or clinical governance framework, for the effective implementation of the third Clinical Safety Standard.
Each standard contains:
- A description of the standard
- A statement of intent
- A consumer outcome statement
- A list of criteria that describe the key areas covered by the standard
- Explanatory notes on the context of the standard
- Item headings for groups of actions in each criterion
- A consumer outcome statement for each item heading, and
- Actions, describing what is required to meet the standard.