For health services preparing for assessment against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards, there can be a natural tendency to focus on the assessment itself: the evidence to prepare, the timetable to organise and the questions staff might be asked. But what does an assessment actually look and feel like once the…
Updated Advisory AS18/11 on My Health Record The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has updated Advisory AS18/11: Providing Clinical Information to My Health Record. This Advisory will help healthcare services to meet Actions 1.17 and 1.18 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards on implementing the My Health…
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has commenced public consultation on the initial draft of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (third edition). The NSQHS Standards underpin accreditation across Australia’s health system and provide a nationally consistent framework for improving the safety and quality of care. The Commission…
The Commission has updated the accreditation workbook that accompanies the 2021 Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. The Addendum to the NSQHS Standards Accreditation Workbook has been updated to reflect new and emerging evidence. The 2021 Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard supports health service organisations to prevent, control…
Before the year ends the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has released a new Advisory AS25/01: Mandatory reporting of medical device adverse events, applicable to all health service organisations and approved accrediting agencies. Advisory AS25/01 outlines new legislative reporting obligations for adverse events involving medical devices under amendments to…
Advisory AS18/06 – Accreditation assessment requirements of health service organisations post significant clinical or governance review The Commission recently updated Advisory AS18/06 to clarify the roles and responsibilities of accrediting agencies in examining external and non-routine internal review reports as part of the accreditation process. The Advisory outlines all mandatory requirements for accrediting agencies when assessing health service…
The Integrated Health and Aged Care Services (IHACS) Module is used alongside the NSQHS Standards to support providers in the Multi-Purpose Service (MPS) Program. It has been specifically developed for organisations delivering integrated health and aged care services, although its use is currently restricted to facilities under the MPS Program. The IHACS Module enables a…
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has released new resources to support health services in the implementation and assessment of the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework (NCTGF). Incident management fact sheet Provides guidance on identifying, reporting and managing clinical trial incidents in Health Service Organisations (HSOs). It includes examples of reportable incidents…
The Commission recently released Advisory AS18/06, outlining mandatory requirements for accrediting agencies when assessing health service organisations that have undergone significant clinical or governance reviews. The Advisory ensures that external and non-routine internal reports – such as those from coronial investigations, sentinel events, or regulatory inspections – are reviewed as part of the accreditation process.…
To support the implementation of the updated national standard AS 5369:2023, the Commission has released a Gap Analysis Tool designed to help health service organisations assess their compliance with reprocessing requirements for reusable medical equipment. While use of the tool is optional, it provides valuable guidance for evaluating current practices, identifying areas for improvement, and…