Share Your Story
As part of the Caring for Cognitive Impairment Campaign many hospitals shared their initiatives to improve the recognition and care of people with cognitive impairment. Stories about your initiatives are still welcome; to share your organisation's initiatives for publication on the cognitivecare.gov.au site submit your story or email cognitive.impairment@safetyandquality.gov.au.
The Caring for Cognitive Impairment Campaign built on existing programs and projects to provide a platform for collaboration and sharing of good practice. The Campaign was launched in January 2016 and ran until June 2019 to help hospitals prepare for the new cognitive impairment items in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (second edition). The campaign was about providing better outcomes and experiences for patients with cognitive impairment in hospitals, and for their loved ones and staff who care for them.
You can read more about the Campaign on cognitivecare.gov.au
By improving our knowledge and care practices, we can reduce the risk of harm in hospitals. In recognition of cognitive impairment, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has included specific items in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (second edition) and Clinical Care Standards. The NSQHS Standards (second edition) include specific items addressing cognitive impairment.
The Standards are designed to protect the public from harm and to improve the quality of health service provision. All hospitals and day procedure services and the majority of public dental services across Australia need to be assessed to the NSQHS Standards (second edition) from January 2019.
A Cognitive Impairment Advisory Group was established to provide leadership and advice on the implementation of the Caring for Cognitive Impairment Campaign. The Advisory Group ran until mid-2019.
The Delirium Clinical Care Standard outlines the key components of clinical care for patients with suspected delirium and patients at risk of developing delirium in hospital. It is accompanied by a set of indicators to support clinical teams and health services to identify and address areas that require improvement at a local level.