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 May 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 | 2,153 | 1,704 | 1,369 | 427 | 655 | 127 | 55 | 98 | 0 | 6,588 |
| Aboriginal Medical Service | 56 | 24 | 60 | 17 | 25 | 5 | 69 | 2 | 0 | 258 |
| Total | 2,209 | 1,728 | 1,429 | 444 | 680 | 132 | 124 | 100 | 0 | 6,846 |
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 most frequently rated as ‘not met’
The below graph shows the mandatory indicators in the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) that are most frequently rated as ‘not met’ at the initial routine assessment.
The assessment outcomes of all 125 indicators of the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) are outlined in the below table.
Indicators where improvements were required before accreditation was awarded
- RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition)
- Reporting period: April 2023 to May 2026
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 | Not met | |
|---|---|---|
| GP3.1A | Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners | 2,074 |
| C3.5B | Work health and safety | 1,527 |
| QI2.1B | Health summaries | 1,524 |
| C8.1B | Education and training of non-clinical staff | 1,226 |
| GP3.1C | Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners | 1,152 |
| QI1.2B | Patient feedback | 1,031 |
| QI1.2C | Patient feedback | 931 |
| C3.1C | Business operation systems | 803 |
| C6.4D | Information security | 770 |
| QI3.1A | Managing clinical risks | 737 |
| QI1.2A | Patient feedback | 736 |
| GP6.1C | Maintaining vaccine potency | 731 |
| GP5.3A | Doctor’s bag | 726 |
| QI2.2E | Safe and quality use of medicines | 718 |
| QI3.1B | Managing clinical risks | 680 |
| GP5.2B | Practice equipment | 663 |
| GP5.2A | Practice equipment | 612 |
| C7.1C | Content of patient health records | 584 |
| C8.1A | Education and training of non-clinical staff | 567 |
| GP4.1A | Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation | 557 |
| GP6.1B | Maintaining vaccine potency | 555 |
| C3.2B | Accountability and responsibility | 548 |
| C1.1A | Information about your practice | 519 |
| C6.4E | Information security | 504 |
| C3.2D | Accountability and responsibility | 470 |
| C7.1G | Content of patient health records | 442 |
| GP4.1D | Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation | 414 |
| GP1.3B | Care outside of normal opening hours | 382 |
| GP2.2B | Follow-up systems | 369 |
| C7.1B | Content of patient health records | 357 |
| C2.1E | Respectful and culturally appropriate care | 337 |
| QI1.3B | Improving clinical care | 334 |
| GP2.2E | Follow-up systems | 330 |
| C3.2E | Accountability and responsibility | 323 |
| GP2.3B | Engaging with other services | 319 |
| C6.3A | Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information | 319 |
| GP2.2A | Follow-up systems | 310 |
| GP6.1D | Maintaining vaccine potency | 306 |
| GP4.1B | Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation | 302 |
| QI1.1C | Quality improvement activities | 298 |
| C3.1A | Business operation systems | 297 |
| C3.3A | Emergency response plan | 284 |
| C3.2C | Accountability and responsibility | 271 |
| QI1.1D | Quality improvement activities | 264 |
| GP3.1B | Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners | 253 |
| QI2.1A | Health summaries | 240 |
| C2.2A | Presence of a third party during a consultation | 222 |
| QI2.2D | Safe and quality use of medicines | 219 |
| C3.1D | Business operation systems | 207 |
| QI1.1B | Quality improvement activities | 203 |
| GP6.1A | Maintaining vaccine potency | 200 |
| C7.1E | Content of patient health records | 193 |
| C3.2A | Accountability and responsibility | 184 |
| C3.5A | Work health and safety | 181 |
| GP4.1C | Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation | 174 |
| GP1.2A | Home and other visits | 171 |
| GP5.2E | Practice equipment | 159 |
| C1.2A | Communications | 155 |
| C6.4F | Information security | 152 |
| C6.4B | Information security | 133 |
| QI2.2A | Safe and quality use of medicines | 125 |
| GP1.1C | Responsive system for patient care | 123 |
| C6.4G | Information security | 120 |
| GP5.1C | Practice facilities | 120 |
| C1.3B | Informed patient decisions | 108 |
| GP1.3A | Care outside of normal opening hours | 102 |
| C6.3D | Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information | 100 |
| C3.4C | Practice communication and teamwork | 100 |
| C7.1D | Content of patient health records | 93 |
| QI2.2C | Safe and quality use of medicines | 93 |
| QI1.1A | Quality improvement activities | 91 |
| C6.1A | Patient identification | 91 |
| C6.3C | Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information | 89 |
| C6.4C | Information security | 87 |
| C6.3B | Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information | 84 |
| C5.3A | Clinical handover | 81 |
| GP4.1E | Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation | 75 |
| GP2.1B | Continuous and comprehensive care | 70 |
| GP2.2C | Follow-up systems | 65 |
| GP5.2D | Practice equipment | 56 |
| C3.4A | Practice communication and teamwork | 56 |
| GP5.1F | Practice facilities | 54 |
| C2.1B | Respectful and culturally appropriate care | 53 |
| C1.4A | Interpreter and other communication services | 49 |
| C1.4B | Interpreter and other communication services | 46 |
| C6.4A | Information security | 46 |
| QI2.2B | Safe and quality use of medicines | 38 |
| C1.5A | Costs associated with care initiated by the practice | 37 |
| GP2.1C | Continuous and comprehensive care | 36 |
| C4.1A | Health promotion and preventive care | 34 |
| C2.3A | Accessibility of services | 34 |
| GP5.1A | Practice facilities | 33 |
| C5.1B | Diagnosis and management of health issues | 27 |
| C3.6C | Research | 27 |
| C6.2B | Patient health record systems | 26 |
| GP2.4B | Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship | 26 |
| C5.1A | Diagnosis and management of health issues | 26 |
| C3.4B | Practice communication and teamwork | 26 |
| C3.6B | Research | 23 |
| C3.6A | Research | 23 |
| C1.3A | Informed patient decisions | 23 |
| GP2.4A | Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship | 22 |
| C6.2A | Patient health record systems | 21 |
| C7.1A | Content of patient health records | 19 |
| C2.1C | Respectful and culturally appropriate care | 19 |
| C2.1A | Respectful and culturally appropriate care | 18 |
| GP1.1B | Responsive system for patient care | 18 |
| GP5.1E | Practice facilities | 17 |
| GP5.2C | Practice equipment | 14 |
| GP1.1A | Responsive system for patient care | 11 |
| CQI.1C | Continuous quality improvement activities | 8 |
| CQI.1B | Continuous quality improvement activities | 8 |
| C1.5B | Costs associated with care initiated by the practice | 7 |
| PP.6B | Health promotion and preventative care | 5 |
| CG.9E | Infection prevention and control, including reprocessing | 5 |
| GP5.1B | Practice facilities | 5 |
| C2.1D | Respectful and culturally appropriate care | 5 |
| GP5.1D | Practice facilities | 4 |
| F.3B | Environmental sustainability and responsibility | 4 |
| F.1C | Defining and planning for your practice | 4 |
| CG.8A | Immunisations | 3 |
| F.10A | Digital care | 3 |
| F.10B | Digital care | 3 |
| CG.4C | Provision of clinical and medicines guidelines | 3 |
| F.1A | Defining and planning for your practice | 3 |
| F.4D | Induction, training and supporting performance | 3 |
| F.3A | Environmental sustainability and responsibility | 3 |
| F.1B | Defining and planning for your practice | 2 |
| F.4B | Induction, training and supporting performance | 2 |
| F.8D | Information security | 2 |
| F.4A | Induction, training and supporting performance | 2 |
| F.4C | Induction, training and supporting performance | 2 |
| GP2.1A | Continuous and comprehensive care | 2 |
| CG.7A | Managing clinical risks and incidents | 2 |
| C5.2A | Clinical autonomy for practitioners | 2 |
| GP2.3A | Engaging with other services | 2 |
| CG.11A | Practice equipment | 1 |
| F.8A | Information security | 1 |
| F.5A | Registration and qualifications of healthcare practitioners | 1 |
| PP.10A | Care outside of normal opening hours | 1 |
| PP.7B | Open disclosure and complaints | 1 |
| F.5B | Registration and qualifications of healthcare practitioners | 1 |
| F.2A | Response planning | 1 |
| F.8C | Information security | 1 |
| CG.12A | Maintaining vaccine potency | 1 |
| PP.8A | Engaging consumers | 1 |
| PP.2C | Communications | 1 |
| F.9A | Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information | 1 |
| CG.3D | Facilitating complete patient health records | 1 |
| CG.12B | Maintaining vaccine potency | 1 |
| PP.2D | Communications | 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