How to use Clinical Care Standards

Systematic, routine monitoring of patients’ experiences of, and outcomes from, health care is an important way to ensure that the patient’s perspective drives service improvements and patient‑centred care. This is the case in all health services. 

Find out more about patient experience measures.

Patient‑reported outcome measures (PROMs) are an emerging method of assessing the quality of health care in Australia. They are patient‑reported outcome measures based on the responses of patients to standardised, validated questionnaires without input from healthcare providers. They are often administered at least twice to an individual patient – at baseline and again after an intervention – or at regular intervals during a chronic illness. 

The information contributed by patients filling out PROMs questionnaires can be used to support and monitor the movement of health systems towards person‑centred, value‑based health care.

The Commission is leading a national work program to support the consistent and routine use of PROMs to drive quality improvement at all levels of the health system, from the individual to service and systems. There is growing interest across Australia and internationally in the routine interrogation of patient‑reported outcome information for evaluation and decision‑making activities beyond the clinical consultation.

Find out more about patient reported outcome measures.

Find out more about the Commission's work on measurement for quality improvement.

Person‑centred care is health care that is respectful of, and responsive to, the preferences, needs and values of patients and consumers. Clinical care standards support the key principles of person‑centred care, namely: 

• Treating patients with dignity and respect
• Supporting patients’ participation in shared decision making 
• Communicating with patients and providing information about their clinical condition and treatment options in ways they can understand
• Encouraging patients to participate in decision making and self-management of their clinical condition.

For further information, see the Commission's resources on person-centred care. 

Addressing inequity requires recognition that people with different levels of advantage may require different approaches and resources to achieve the same healthcare outcomes. 

When implementing this clinical care standard, cultural safety can be improved through:

• Embedding an organisational approach to cultural safety 
• Specific considerations for patients described within the relevant quality statements. 

Organisational approaches include: 

• Ensuring the use of interpreter services and cultural translators when this will assist the patient and is in line with their wishes
• Considering the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and how their involvement could improve patient care 
• Identifying variation in healthcare provision or outcomes for specific patient populations – for example, based on ethnicity
• Disaggregating data by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status when using the indicators included in this standard. This will support identification of access and outcome issues so that improvements can be made 
• Implementing and monitoring the six specific actions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander care outlined for acute care services in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards, and equivalent actions in the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, care should be provided in a way that is respectful of, and responsive to, cultural beliefs and practices, while addressing the disparities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

For further information, see the Commission's User Guide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. 

Shared decision making involves discussion and collaboration between a patient and their clinician. It is about reaching the most appropriate healthcare decisions for patients by considering the patient’s values, goals and preferences together with the best available evidence about benefits, risks, and uncertainties of treatment. Find out more about the Commission’s work on shared decision making.

The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (second edition) describes rights that consumers, or someone they care for, can expect when receiving health care. These rights apply to all people in all places where health care is provided in Australia. 

Patients have the right to involve the people they choose in planning and making decisions about their health care and treatment. Support people may be family members, carers, friends or consumer advocates such as social workers. 

Many health services employ different types of liaison officers, such as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander liaison officers, who can provide patients with advocacy, information and support to patients. 

Where a clinical care standard refers to clinicians’ discussions with patients about their care, this should be understood to include support people if this is what the patient wishes, or a substitute decision‑maker if appropriate.

Informed consent is a person’s voluntary and informed decision about a healthcare treatment, procedure or intervention that is made with adequate knowledge and understanding of the:

• Benefits and risks to them
• Alternative options available
• Potential financial costs. 

Find out more about the Commission's work on informed consent.