1. What evidence would you compile to demonstrate that your organisation has met the Standard and what tools, if any, exist to assist your organisation assess compliance?
2. What dimension/s of quality is/are the Standard assessing?
3. How would you use the accreditation process to improve patient and organisational outcomes?
1. National Safety and Quality Health Services Standards are the Standards that focus on protecting the public from any kind of harm, as well as, improving the quality of the provision of the health services. To ensure that the organization is working in compliance with the set of standards, it is very important to compile various evidence for demonstrating the required actions for the NSQHS standards (1). The evidence required for ensuring that the organization has met the standard of the governance of the quality and safety includes that all the quality and safety processes, as well as, systems are in accordance with the policies and procedures, a proper evaluation and review of these processes and systems are conducted periodically, and whenever the change in practice is necessary, it is done accordingly for the better care of the patient. The audit, as well as, feedback from the patients and the healthcare professionals regularly are used to assess the compliance and understanding of the system (2).
2. The different dimensions of quality that the standard assesses include the quality, as well as, safety of the patient, the quality management system of the organization, assessment of the organizational structure, which includes assessment of the various characteristics of the healthcare setting, involving personnel, facilities, and policies associated with the care delivery. Moreover, the standard also assesses the process, which determines that if the healthcare services are consistent with the clinical care that is provided to the individuals, assessment of the outcome that includes evaluation of the health of the patient as a result of the received care and treatment, and also includes the assessment of the feedback of the patients including their experiences during the provision of the care (2).
3. Accreditation can be described as the status, which is granted to an organization which is being assessed for having met and fulfilled the particular standards. It is the most important driver for the improvement of the quality and safety of the healthcare organization. As it provides a clear description and indication about the quality of the services of the organization, it is used to improve the outcomes of the patient care and organizational services. It can be used to increase the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary team, thus improving patient outcomes. Moreover, the accreditation can be used to strengthen the learning of the organization. As it enables the self-analysis of the ongoing performance of the care in association with the standards, this information can be used for assessment of the commitment and accountability of the organization towards quality (1).
References
- Hospital Accreditation Workbook [Internet]. safetyandquality.gov.au. 2012 [cited 17 September 2016]. Available from: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Hospital-Accreditaton-Workbook-%E2%80%93-October-2012.pdf
- National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards [Internet]. safetyandquality.gov.au. 2012 [cited 17 September 2016]. Available from: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/NSQHS-Standards-Sept-2012.pdf
