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“These standards are about saving lives and protecting lives”
The Honourable Greg Hunt (Webcast Launch Event – 12 October 2021)
In October 2021, after years of consultation with healthcare providers and consumers, The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (The Commission) launched the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards (NSQPCH Standards). These standards describe the processes and structures that are needed in healthcare services to help keep people safe and improve the quality of health care they receive nationwide. Notably, they are the first set of nationally consistent standards for primary and community health providers.
National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards
The NSQPCH Standards apply to any allied health or healthcare practitioner that is involved in the direct care of patients, privately or publicly funded, large or small. The standards aim to address “the prevention, treatment and management of illness or injury”¹ to ensure the delivery of person-centred, safe and high-quality health care Australia wide within the themes of Clinical Governance, Partnering with Consumers Standard and Clinical Safety.
“The Primary and Community Healthcare Standards aim to protect the public from harm and improve the quality of health care delivered by describing a nationally consistent framework, which all primary and community healthcare services can apply when delivering health care.¹” You can attain a full copy here.
It is worthy to note, that the implementation of the standards for the delivery of safe and high-quality healthcare is the responsibility of all participants within the healthcare setting – from business owner and practitioner to patient.
The standard identifies the key roles each member of an organisation plays with critical duties including defining the safety and quality roles and responsibilities, reviewing the safety and quality performance of the healthcare service and considering the safety and quality of healthcare for patients in its decision making.
Organisational processes such as risk management, feedback and complaints, healthcare record management and staff safety training, are required to be integrated with the clinical governance processes to enable active management of the service.
Each healthcare provider is responsible for ensuring the safety of their own professional practice. Managers and owners should work together to ensure that safety is embedded into the culture of the working environment, quality improvement remains an ongoing focus and new systems introduced are seamless and effective. For smaller services, one person can be responsible to fulfil the duties.
Right:“Roles and responsibilities for clinical governance in different service sizes”¹.
A key outcome of the NSQPCH Standards, as well as the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is to make the consumer feel safe and comfortable when accessing healthcare.
Providing this requires:
A critical aspect of ensuring successful healthcare delivery is in working with the consumer through the planning and delivery of their own health care. Through the systems at both individual and healthcare service levels, effective partnerships will empower consumers providing them with a positive, high quality health care experience and improved safety.
Healthcare Services should encompass the following criteria:
• Clinical Governance and Quality Improvement Systems
• Partnering with patients in their own care
• Health Literacy
• Partnering with consumers in service design
This standard serves to identify and mitigate common clinical safety risks by way of
• preventing and controlling infections
• medication safety
• comprehensive care
• communicating for safety
• Recognizing and responding to serious deterioration and minimizing harm, and
• maintaining a clean and hygienic environment
Currently, accreditation to the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards is voluntary, however, healthcare services may be required to become accredited in the future to satisfy regulatory, contractual or funding obligations.
The patented Purifas® FaceShield™ is the only physical hygiene barrier worldwide that provides 100% coverage of a therapy bed facehole and surrounds. Using FaceShield™ for all prone therapies may help meet the requirements of these standards.”
Learn about Environmental Cleaning
REFERENCES
Ensuring top-notch hygiene in therapy and allied health settings is vital for client safety. Shared equipment can easily lead to cross-contamination without strict hygiene protocols. Towels, frequently used in these environments, can harbour bacteria even after washing, posing risks to both clients and therapists. This guide will help you understand these risks, avoid common mistakes and implement the best hygiene practices, all while being environmentally conscious.
