Accreditation
Important update
Primary Sense will be replacing the Pen CS systems CAT4 and Topbar in May 2023. Primary Sense is an evidence based clinical audit and decision support tool that provides on demand, pre-filtered reports at the click of a button.
From November 2022 your practice can gain access to Primary Sense. Simply complete the online form and our team will be in touch. For further information, visit our webpage.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) develop the Standards for General Practice. General practices can obtain formal accreditation against these Standards from an independent accreditation agency through the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme. Brisbane South PHN is committed to supporting general practices in the region in reaching their accreditation goals. In partnership with AGPAL Brisbane South PHN are hosting a range of workshops and webinars. To find out more information and to register for upcoming events please visit our Education Calendar.
The National General Practice Accreditation Scheme
In collaboration with the RACGP, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) developed the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme. The NGPA Scheme supports the application of the RACGP Standards for General Practices
The NGPA Scheme:
- provides a framework for general practices to be assessed against the RACGP Standards
- improves support programs for implementation of accreditation
- provides practices with access to national data on accreditation performance to enable benchmarking
- includes an approval process for accrediting agencies assessing general practices.
Benefits of accreditation
- Provides a framework for a practice to deliver high quality, safe health care to patients in accordance with industry best practice standards.
- Allows patients and clients to have confidence in the standard of health care they are receiving.
- Educates staff about the value of and gives them the frameworks to deliver high quality, safe health care services.
- Creates a workplace culture that values quality.
- Earns Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development (QI&CPD) points for each GP participating in accreditation.
- Facilitates access to the Federal Government’s Practice Incentives Program (PIP).
- Achieves a competitive advantage over non-accredited practices/service providers.
- Reduces business risk.
- Ensures the practice complies with regulatory requirements and national standards.
Accreditation process
The first step in the accreditation process is for the practice to choose an approved accreditation agency. From there, it will typically take a practice 12–18 months to prepare for their Accreditation Assessment. Once the practice has chosen their agency, the agency representative will guide them through the rest of the process, including:
- explain the full process and timeline to the practice manager
- provide details of accreditation requirements
- identify practice-specific improvement priorities
- undertake the Accreditation Assessment.
For enquiries relating to general practice accreditation, please email our support team: support@bsphn.org.au.
RACGP Standards for General Practices
The current edition of the RACGP Standards for General Practices is the 5th edition, published in July 2017. All resources provided in this section support the current edition of these Standards.
- RACGP Standards for General Practices
- Infection prevention and control guidelines
- Resource Guide
- Patient Feedback Guide
- FAQs
- Running a Practice
Practice Incentives Program
The Practice Incentives Program (PIP) encourages general practices to provide quality care, build and enhance their clinical capacity and improve accessibility and health outcomes for patients through a range of incentives. Incentives are targeted to achieve specific national and regional health priorities, and each incentive has its own set of eligibility requirements.
Quality improvement toolkits
Brisbane South PHN have developed a number of QI toolkits aimed to assist general practice. The toolkits are designed:
- to support medical practices to make easy, measurable and sustainable improvements
- to provide best practice care for their patients
- to assist practice’s to complete Quality Improvement (QI) activities using the Model for Improvement
- to assist practices to meet the Practice Incentive Program Quality Improvement Incentive.