Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard - Public Consultation
Consultation is now open for the draft Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard. The consultation period will run from Wednesday 10 September and close on Tuesday 14 October 2025.
The Commission is undertaking consultation on the draft Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard. The Clinical Care Standard will drive quality improvement in care processes and outcomes for people undergoing emergency laparotomy in Australia.
Consultation materials
The Commission welcomes comments on the draft Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard consultation materials below:
Provide your feedback
Before responding, please review the explanatory information for each quality statement in the draft Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard. The online survey asks for your feedback on the explanatory information for patients, clinicians and healthcare services – in addition to the quality statements and indicators which are summarised within the survey.
While online survey submissions are preferred, submissions may also be provided in writing. Written submissions should address the consultation questions.
Written responses should be titled ‘Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard Public Consultation’ and emailed to ccs@safetyandquality.gov.au.
What are Clinical Care Standards?
Clinical Care Standards describe the care that people can expect to be offered for a specific clinical condition, treatment, procedure or clinical pathway no matter where they are treated in Australia.
Clinical Care Standards aim to address unwarranted variation in health care or patient outcomes by increasing evidence-based healthcare. Unlike clinical guidelines, they focus on priority aspects of care.
Clinical Care Standards contain:
- Quality statements describing the care that a patient should be offered, regardless of where they are treated in Australia
- Information for patients, clinicians and healthcare services about what each statement means
- Indicators to help clinicians and healthcare services monitor the care described in the clinical care standard and to support local quality improvement
Each clinical care standard is supported by implementation resources for consumers, clinicians, and health services, and in some cases, for Primary Health Networks (PHNs).
Read more about the development of the Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard and the involvement of the Topic Working Group
Outcome of consultations
Following the public consultation, the Commission will:
- Analyse the feedback received through the public consultation
- Finalise the draft Clinical Care Standard for endorsement and release in 2026.
More information
For questions and feedback on the Commission’s draft Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard, please contact the Clinical Care Standards team, CCS@safetyandquality.gov.au or phone (02) 9126 3600.