Advisory PCHS26/05: Transitioning between accrediting agencies for the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards

Advisory details

Purpose

To describe the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s (the Commission) requirements for healthcare services transitioning accrediting agencies for assessment to the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards (Primary and Community Healthcare Standards).

Issue

Healthcare services can engage an approved accrediting agency for the purposes of assessment to the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards. There is provision within the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation (AHSSQA Scheme) for healthcare services to transfer between accrediting agencies during a two- or three-year accreditation cycle.

There are requirements that must be followed to ensure an effective transition from one approved accrediting agency to another.

Requirements

From time to time, healthcare services may wish to change the accrediting agency they have engaged to conduct accreditation assessments. For the purpose of this advisory the:

• initial accrediting agency is the accrediting agency that currently provides accreditation services to a healthcare service
• receiving accrediting agency is the accrediting agency that the healthcare service wishes to engage as its future accreditation service provider.

The healthcare service may transfer accrediting agencies during an accreditation cycle where the following requirements are met.

1. The healthcare service must ensure:
   1. the regulator accepts the transition to another accrediting agency (if applicable)
   2. the transition occurs prior to the commencement of the initial phase of an assessment and must not take place during an assessment cycle
   3. a contract with the receiving accrediting agency is signed prior to or immediately following cancellation of its client agreement with the initial accrediting agency
   4. the existing accreditation cycle and assessment schedule is maintained
   5. there are no outstanding actions or obligations to the initial accrediting agency.
2. The receiving accrediting agency must:
   1. maintain the healthcare service’s existing accreditation cycle and expiry date
   2. not issue a replacement accreditation certificate for the existing accreditation cycle
   3. notify the Commission as soon as practical if there is reasonable cause to believe that the healthcare service is seeking a transfer during an assessment cycle.
3. The initial accrediting agency must notify the Commission as soon as practical if there is reasonable cause to believe that the healthcare service is seeking a transfer during an assessment cycle.

The healthcare service should provide a copy of its most recent assessment report from the initial accrediting agency to the receiving accrediting agency for continuity.

The Commission will continue to recognise any current accreditation certificates awarded by the initial accrediting agency, until the expiry date of the current accreditation award.

For healthcare services wishing to transfer accrediting agencies following the commencement of the initial phase of an assessment, they must submit a written request to the Commission and provide evidence of at least one of the following criteria:

• a breach of Policy - Approval under the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation (AHSSQA) Scheme to conduct assessments
• non-compliance with Primary and Community Healthcare Standards fact sheets and/or advisories, published by the Commission.