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 August 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	2,184	1,722	1,387	428	657	132	56	100	6,666
Aboriginal Medical Service	56	24	62	17	24	6	70	2	261
Total	2,240	1,746	1,449	445	681	138	126	102	6,927

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 August 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	2,065
C3.5B	Work health and safety	1,554
QI2.1B	Health summaries	1,532
C8.1B	Education and training of non-clinical staff	1,182
GP3.1C	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	1,162
QI1.2B	Patient feedback	1,011
QI1.2C	Patient feedback	919
C6.4D	Information security	785
C3.1C	Business operation systems	783
QI3.1A	Managing clinical risks	733
GP6.1C	Maintaining vaccine potency	728
QI1.2A	Patient feedback	726
GP5.3A	Doctor’s bag	726
QI2.2E	Safe and quality use of medicines	719
QI3.1B	Managing clinical risks	675
GP5.2B	Practice equipment	661
GP5.2A	Practice equipment	654
C7.1C	Content of patient health records	571
C8.1A	Education and training of non-clinical staff	570
GP6.1B	Maintaining vaccine potency	563
GP4.1A	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	557
C3.2B	Accountability and responsibility	551
C1.1A	Information about your practice	509
C6.4E	Information security	504
C3.2D	Accountability and responsibility	482
GP4.1D	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	439
C7.1G	Content of patient health records	434
GP1.3B	Care outside of normal opening hours	363
GP2.2B	Follow-up systems	362
C7.1B	Content of patient health records	342
C2.1E	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	341
C6.3A	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	328
C3.2E	Accountability and responsibility	323
GP2.2E	Follow-up systems	322
QI1.3B	Improving clinical care	320
GP2.3B	Engaging with other services	318
GP6.1D	Maintaining vaccine potency	317
C3.1A	Business operation systems	303
GP4.1B	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	301
GP2.2A	Follow-up systems	300
QI1.1C	Quality improvement activities	290
C3.3A	Emergency response plan	276
C3.2C	Accountability and responsibility	269
QI1.1D	Quality improvement activities	259
QI2.1A	Health summaries	256
GP3.1B	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	252
QI2.2D	Safe and quality use of medicines	210
C2.2A	Presence of a third party during a consultation	209
C3.1D	Business operation systems	204
GP6.1A	Maintaining vaccine potency	201
QI1.1B	Quality improvement activities	192
C3.5A	Work health and safety	188
C3.2A	Accountability and responsibility	186
C7.1E	Content of patient health records	185
GP4.1C	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	184
GP5.2E	Practice equipment	176
GP1.2A	Home and other visits	172
C1.2A	Communications	156
C6.4F	Information security	151
GP1.1C	Responsive system for patient care	139
C6.4B	Information security	133
GP5.1C	Practice facilities	128
QI2.2A	Safe and quality use of medicines	127
C6.4G	Information security	111
C1.3B	Informed patient decisions	108
C6.1A	Patient identification	98
GP1.3A	Care outside of normal opening hours	95
C6.3D	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	94
QI2.2C	Safe and quality use of medicines	94
C3.4C	Practice communication and teamwork	94
C7.1D	Content of patient health records	94
C6.3B	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	89
QI1.1A	Quality improvement activities	84
C6.4C	Information security	82
C6.3C	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	80
C5.3A	Clinical handover	79
GP4.1E	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	73
GP2.1B	Continuous and comprehensive care	73
GP2.2C	Follow-up systems	62
C3.4A	Practice communication and teamwork	58
GP5.2D	Practice equipment	56
C2.1B	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	52
C1.4A	Interpreter and other communication services	50
GP5.1F	Practice facilities	50
C1.4B	Interpreter and other communication services	45
C6.4A	Information security	43
QI2.2B	Safe and quality use of medicines	37
C2.3A	Accessibility of services	37
C1.5A	Costs associated with care initiated by the practice	36
GP2.1C	Continuous and comprehensive care	35
C4.1A	Health promotion and preventive care	35
GP5.1A	Practice facilities	32
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
C6.2B	Patient health record systems	23
GP2.4A	Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship	23
C1.3A	Informed patient decisions	23
GP1.1B	Responsive system for patient care	21
C6.2A	Patient health record systems	19
C3.6A	Research	19
C3.6B	Research	19
C2.1A	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	18
GP5.1E	Practice facilities	17
C2.1C	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	17
C7.1A	Content of patient health records	17
C3.6C	Research	15
GP5.2C	Practice equipment	14
GP1.1A	Responsive system for patient care	13
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
GP2.3A	Engaging with other services	1
C5.2A	Clinical autonomy for practitioners	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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