Assessment outcomes data and lessons learnt for the NGPA Scheme

Summary of accreditation outcomes and lessons learnt from the assessment of general practices against the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) and the RACGP Standards for point-of-care testing (5th edition).

Assessment outcomes data

Australian general practices with assessment outcomes data to the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) from April 2023 to July 2026.

Number of Australian general practices with assessment outcomes data to the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) by state and territory, and practice type.

Practice type	NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT	Total
General practice	2,170	1,715	1,382	427	658	131	55	100	6,638
Aboriginal Medical Service	56	24	61	17	24	6	70	2	260
Total	2,226	1,739	1,443	444	682	137	125	102	6,898

To view the accreditation status of a general practice or Aboriginal Medical Service, view the Commission's Register of accredited general practices and Aboriginal Medical Services or the Register of registered general practices and Aboriginal Medical Services.

A repeat assessment is required when a general practice has 20% or more mandatory indicators rated ‘not met’ following the initial routine assessment. This ensures the general practice has fully embedded all the changes that were implemented to meet all mandatory indicators when it was awarded accreditation. Full requirements of a repeat assessment are stipulated in Advisory GP23/03: Standardised repeat assessment of general practices.

Standardised repeat assessments have been implemented from 1 January 2024.

Indicators where improvements were required before accreditation was awarded

RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition)
Reporting period: April 2023 to July 2026

The assessment outcomes of all 125 indicators of the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) are outlined in the below table. Indicators are ordered from highest to lowest, based on the number of general practices that did not meet them at the initial routine assessment.

Indicators	Description	Not met
GP3.1A	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	2,066
C3.5B	Work health and safety	1,545
QI2.1B	Health summaries	1,517
C8.1B	Education and training of non-clinical staff	1,199
GP3.1C	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	1,155
QI1.2B	Patient feedback	1,011
QI1.2C	Patient feedback	921
C3.1C	Business operation systems	779
C6.4D	Information security	771
QI3.1A	Managing clinical risks	727
GP6.1C	Maintaining vaccine potency	724
QI1.2A	Patient feedback	723
GP5.3A	Doctor’s bag	717
QI2.2E	Safe and quality use of medicines	710
QI3.1B	Managing clinical risks	672
GP5.2B	Practice equipment	655
GP5.2A	Practice equipment	632
C7.1C	Content of patient health records	569
C8.1A	Education and training of non-clinical staff	569
GP4.1A	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	556
GP6.1B	Maintaining vaccine potency	553
C3.2B	Accountability and responsibility	542
C1.1A	Information about your practice	507
C6.4E	Information security	502
C3.2D	Accountability and responsibility	475
C7.1G	Content of patient health records	435
GP4.1D	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	430
GP1.3B	Care outside of normal opening hours	370
GP2.2B	Follow-up systems	362
C7.1B	Content of patient health records	343
C2.1E	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	339
GP2.2E	Follow-up systems	326
QI1.3B	Improving clinical care	323
C6.3A	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	321
GP2.3B	Engaging with other services	315
C3.2E	Accountability and responsibility	313
GP6.1D	Maintaining vaccine potency	308
C3.1A	Business operation systems	303
GP2.2A	Follow-up systems	301
GP4.1B	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	299
QI1.1C	Quality improvement activities	292
C3.3A	Emergency response plan	275
C3.2C	Accountability and responsibility	270
QI1.1D	Quality improvement activities	260
QI2.1A	Health summaries	252
GP3.1B	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	252
C2.2A	Presence of a third party during a consultation	213
QI2.2D	Safe and quality use of medicines	213
C3.1D	Business operation systems	199
GP6.1A	Maintaining vaccine potency	196
QI1.1B	Quality improvement activities	194
C7.1E	Content of patient health records	188
C3.2A	Accountability and responsibility	187
C3.5A	Work health and safety	183
GP4.1C	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	181
GP1.2A	Home and other visits	176
GP5.2E	Practice equipment	168
C1.2A	Communications	153
C6.4F	Information security	146
C6.4B	Information security	132
GP1.1C	Responsive system for patient care	132
QI2.2A	Safe and quality use of medicines	129
GP5.1C	Practice facilities	123
C6.4G	Information security	113
C1.3B	Informed patient decisions	110
C6.1A	Patient identification	99
GP1.3A	Care outside of normal opening hours	99
QI2.2C	Safe and quality use of medicines	96
C6.3D	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	95
C7.1D	Content of patient health records	95
C3.4C	Practice communication and teamwork	95
C6.3B	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	89
QI1.1A	Quality improvement activities	85
C6.3C	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	82
C5.3A	Clinical handover	81
C6.4C	Information security	81
GP4.1E	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	71
GP2.1B	Continuous and comprehensive care	71
GP2.2C	Follow-up systems	59
C3.4A	Practice communication and teamwork	58
GP5.2D	Practice equipment	57
C2.1B	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	51
GP5.1F	Practice facilities	51
C1.4A	Interpreter and other communication services	48
C6.4A	Information security	45
C1.4B	Interpreter and other communication services	44
C2.3A	Accessibility of services	38
QI2.2B	Safe and quality use of medicines	37
C1.5A	Costs associated with care initiated by the practice	36
GP2.1C	Continuous and comprehensive care	35
GP5.1A	Practice facilities	34
C4.1A	Health promotion and preventive care	33
C5.1B	Diagnosis and management of health issues	27
C5.1A	Diagnosis and management of health issues	26
GP2.4B	Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship	26
C3.4B	Practice communication and teamwork	25
C3.6C	Research	24
C6.2B	Patient health record systems	24
GP2.4A	Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship	23
C1.3A	Informed patient decisions	21
C3.6A	Research	21
C3.6B	Research	20
C6.2A	Patient health record systems	20
GP1.1B	Responsive system for patient care	19
C2.1C	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	18
GP5.1E	Practice facilities	17
C2.1A	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	17
C7.1A	Content of patient health records	17
GP5.2C	Practice equipment	15
GP1.1A	Responsive system for patient care	12
C2.1D	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	6
GP5.1B	Practice facilities	5
C1.5B	Costs associated with care initiated by the practice	5
GP5.1D	Practice facilities	4
GP2.1A	Continuous and comprehensive care	2
C5.2A	Clinical autonomy for practitioners	1
GP2.3A	Engaging with other services	1

Lessons learnt

Mandatory indicators rated as ‘not met’ are largely consistent across general practices in major city and rural or remote locations
For the three top indicators rated as ‘not met’, the main reason provided by assessors was ‘documentation not available’ from the general practice during the initial assessment
Most critical issues identified during the assessment of general practices warranting escalation to healthcare complaints organisations have been in relation to:
- GP4.1 - Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation
- GP6.1 - Maintaining vaccine potency
- GP2.2 - Follow-up systems
- QI2.2 - Safe and quality use of medicines

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