Regulation For Safe And Quality Healthcare Facilities

Abstract
To meet the ever rising demand of quality in health care systems the Australian health
department has implemented application and standards to ensure quality systems are in
place. Here is a quick overview of the regulations and standards required for all health care
systems in Australia.
Article
The standards of safety and quality in healthcare systems is monitored and maintained by
Australian health department through NHQHS application. The National Safety and Quality
Health Service (NSQHS) Standards were developed in Australia to impel the implementation
of safety and quality systems and raise the standards of the quality of health care. In
September 2011, Health Ministers of Australia encouraged the NSQHS Standards and a
national license scheme.
All hospitals and healthcare services and the most of the public dental health services across
Australia need to be licensed to the NSQHS Standards. Private health service facilities will
need to confirm their requirements for license to any standards in addition to the NSQHS
Standards with the related health department. The procedure of issuing license according to
the NSQHS Standards started on 1 January 2013. The Commission declared the NSQHS
Guide for Small healthcare facilities and hospitals in May 2013.
Any mid-cycle assessment doesnt need fulfillment of all the 10 standards. It, at a minimum,
involves standards 1, 2 and 3, a document suggesting the organizational quality improvement
plan and recommendations from past license assessments. For new health service facilities,
interim license to the NSQHS Standards generally applies for the first 12 months of operation.
License programs focus on continuous improvement of strategies regarding safety and quality
of healthcare services. They usually involve a procedure that involves self-assessment,
review or assessment of performance against the NSQHS Standards, and ongoing
monitoring by the licensing agency. The Commission devised more flexible arrangements in
2013 to aid the first wave of health service organizations undertaking license to the NSQHS
Standards. These flexible arrangements ended on 31 December 2013. The following flexible
arrangements will remain in place:

Actions classified as developmental will remain as such.

Two of the prescribed actions will remain as such. First is training in Aseptic
Technique and second is training in Basic Life Support.

These actions will also be reviewed and changed, if necessary, in 2015.

If a significant risk of patient sabotage is seen and confirmed during an onsite visit to a health
service organization, licensing agencies are required to notify the related province or territory
health department.
There are certain requirements for the licensing agencies too. Licensing agencies need to be
licensed by an internationally recognized body such as the International Society for Quality in
Health Care or the Joint Accreditation Scheme of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ), and
report license information to the Commission and related provinces and state health
departments for their approval.