A national review of the administration of the Practice Incentive Program (PIP) conducted by the Australian National Audit Office, found that whilst an outcome of accreditation was access to the PIP, the Department of Health [and Aging] could not assure itself of the quality or consistency of general practice accreditation.
As a result, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) embarked on a project to develop a governance and reporting framework for general practice accreditation in Australia.
The joint project aims to:
- identify issues general practices have with the existing accreditation scheme;
- maximise opportunities to enhance the safety and quality of patient care through the application of accreditation; and,
- identify options for the coordination of general practice accreditation, including an appeals mechanism.
Consultation with general practices has commenced and seeks to identify duplicative processes, variations in assessments and opportunities for improvement to enhance the accreditation scheme.
The project is expected to run through to 2015 with feedback being sought from practices and stakeholder organisations.
This project does not impact on the RACGP’s continuing role in developing and updating the Standards for general practices (4th edition).
One of the Commission’s roles is to lead and coordinate national improvements in safety and quality across all healthcare settings in Australia. The Commission is pleased to be working with the RACGP on this important work.
About the RACGP
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is Australia’s largest professional general practice organisation and represents urban and rural general practitioners. We represent over 21,500 members working in or towards a career in general practice and are proud that over 19,300 Australian-registered general practitioners have chosen to be a member of the College. There are over 125 million general practice consultations taking place annually in Australia.
The RACGP recognises the traditional custodians of land and sea, on whose lands we work and live. We wish to pay our respects to all Traditional Owners and Elders past, present and future.