NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

National Standards and Accreditation

The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards were developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare in collaboration with the Australian Government, clinical experts, patients and carers.

The aim of the NSQHS Standards is to improve the quality of health service provision. The eight NSQHS Standards provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care consumers can expect from health services. The second edition of the National Standards was initially released in November 2017 and updated in May 2021 to accommodate lessons learned from the response to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and to better support health service organisations to prevent, control and respond to infections that cause outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics, including novel and emerging infections. To support assessors and improve the review process, the Commission has developed an assessment framework for safety and quality systems. The framework describes the assessors’ roles and responsibilities through the review process. A key part of this framework is PICMoRS methodology. PICMoRS methodology is a structured assessment method used when interviewing members of the workforce to comprehensively review the processes that make up safety and quality systems specified in the NSQHS Standards.

In June 2022, Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospital (BMDH) underwent accreditation using this framework: • Process • Improvement • Consumer participation • Monitoring • Reporting and; • Systems Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospital (BMDH) underwent National Accreditation in June 2022. Feedback from the independent accreditation assessors identified strengths in consumer engagement and representation of diverse local community, prioritisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medication safety. It was noted that BMDH have a strong safety culture that will continue to be built to improve safety and quality practices. A series of recommendations were made to continue to strengthen safety and quality at BMDH. National Standards Accreditation occurs every 3 years. From January 2019, health

service organisations moved to a three-year assessment cycle, with no further mid-cycle assessments.

Top: Auburn Aboriginal Liaison Officer Michelle Pearce with Sarita Sharma (Reg Nurse) Bottom: Westmead General Services Rommel Martin.

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