AccreditationThe primary objective of the project is to provide Health Ministers with an alternative model of accreditation that can be applied across all sectors of the health care system.
Australian Charter of Healthcare RightsThe Commission has worked with the Consumers Health Forum and other organisations to develop an Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights that provides information about the rights of patients and consumers to underpin the provision of safe and high quality care, and to support a shared understanding of the rights of people receiving care.
Clinical HandoverThe purpose of this program is to identify, develop and improve clinical handover communication. Safe health care delivery for patients depends on effective communication between health care providers. Developing and implementing more consistent and reliable approaches to clinical handover is a key strategy to reduce communication errors.
Credentialling for Health Professionals
Falls Prevention GuidelinesPreventing falls and harm from falls in older people: Best practice guidelines for Australian hospitals and residential aged care facilities
Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI)The aim of the Commission’s HAI program is to develop a national approach to HAI including strategies for ensuring practices are sustained and the development of an agreed National Plan for healthcare associated infection prevention. The project will focus on identifying and addressing systemic problems and gaps and ensuring a comprehensive range of action is undertaken in a nationally coordinated way by leaders, decision makers and public and private providers operating at different levels in the health system.
Information StrategyThe program will provide national leadership and coordination in national improvements to the evidence base for safety and quality, via the development, analysis, use and reporting of information that monitors and equips actions to enhance the safety and quality of health care. The program of work is set out in the Information Strategy. There are four streams of work, designed to achieve key aims for the Commission specified by Ministers and to support information developments required by other priority programs.
Medication SafetyThe objective of this program is to improve the safety of medication usage in Australia. Effective and safe use of medication is one area where potential improvements in the safety and quality of health care can be made. Because of the multiplicity of current and proposed initiatives in this area, there may be a key coordinating role for the Commission.
Open DisclosureOpen disclosure is the open discussion of incidents that result in harm to a patient while receiving health care. The National Open Disclosure Standard (the standard) outlines the essential elements of open disclosure. The purpose of this project is to support jurisdictions and facilities to implement the standard. This will involve translating the findings of the national pilot of the standard into useful tools for clinicians and patients, and undertaking work to overcome the legal barriers to open disclosure and to explore patients’ experiences of open disclosure.
Patient IdentificationThis program is a national response to the continuing problem of patient misidentification. It is focussed on key areas of activity where the Commission can deliver leadership for national action, coordinate agreed standards for performance, and support jurisdictions and private health providers in their implementation of protocols and agreed safety improvement actions.
Recognising and Responding to Clinical DeteriorationThis program is to explore what national work can improve the safety and quality of care for the patients at risk of unexpected cardiac arrest or serious morbidity, including consideration of communication of critical test results.
