Consultation period has commenced
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has prepared a draft set of Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care and is currently seeking comment on these via a consultation discussion paper.The purpose of the Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care is to describe high priority areas that should be the basis of coordinated national action to improve the safety and quality of care and achieve better outcomes for patients and a more effective and efficient health system.
You are invited to make a submission on one, or all, of the draft Goals, or any other aspect of the consultation paper.
A copy of the consultation paper is available to download here. (PDF 275 KB)
Submissions, marked ‘Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care’, can be made by post or email, or by using an online survey.
Post: GPO Box 5480, Sydney NSW 2001
Email: goals@safetyandquality.gov.au
Online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ACSQHCGoalsConsultation
All submissions should be received by close of business on Friday 10 February 2012 to be considered in the consultation process.
All submissions will be published on the Commission’s website, including the names and/or organisations making the submission. The Commission will consider requests to withhold part or all of the contents of any submission made.
Copies of this paper can be obtained from the Australian Commission on Safety and Health Care. Contact details are:
Phone: (02) 9126 3600
Email: mail@safetyandquality.gov.au
Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care
The landscape of the health system in Australia is changing with current health reforms. The National Health Reform Agreement aims to improve health outcomes and ensure the sustainability of the Australian health system. It is intended that the reforms included in this agreement will improve access to care, improve efficiency, increase public information about health service performance and ensure more transparent funding of public hospitals. Safety and quality is central to the delivery of health care, and considerations about safety and quality are embedded in the health reforms.In this context there is currently an opportunity to build on the wide range of work that has been done over the last five to ten years to improve safety and quality in Australia. There is an opportunity to agree on the key safety and quality challenges that could form the basis for concerted and collaborative national action across all sectors and settings of care to improve health outcomes and the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system.
To take this forward, the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council has asked the Commission to identify a small number of national safety and quality goals. The goals will identify high priority areas that should form the basis of coordinated national action and provide the opportunity for integrated effort to maximise the benefits that can be achieved from existing and new safety and quality work.
Work commenced to identify and develop the Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care (the Goals) in August 2011, and it is intended that a final set of goals will be complete in late March 2012. The Goals will then be submitted to Health Ministers.
Goals that are developed as part of this process will need to be considered in the context of other national safety and quality improvement initiatives. In particular, the Australian Safety and Quality Framework for Health Care sets out a vision for safe and high quality care in Australia that is consumer centred, driven by information and organised for safety. In addition, the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards provide explicit statements of the level of care that people can expect from health services.
More information
For more information, please contact Dr Nicola Dunbar at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on goals@safetyandquality.gov.auHelp with accessing large documents
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