NSQHS Standards resource hub
Resources to support implementation of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS Standards).
Where to start
The NSQHS Standards, together with the relevant guide for the heath setting you work in and the accreditation workbook, provide the baseline for implementation. The standards describe what is required of a health service, and the guides and workbook provide supporting information such as reflective questions, key tasks, examples of evidence and strategies for improvement.
- NSQHS Standards
- NSQHS Standards Guide for hospitals
- NSQHS Standards Guide for day procedure services
- NSQHS Standards Accreditation Workbook
- Addendum to the NSQHS Standards Accreditation Workbook (2025)
The monitoring tools allow you to track progress against implementation.
Accreditation resources
Resources to support accreditation and the assessment process can be found on our accreditation page.
Guides to support continuous quality improvement
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for Governing Bodies
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for Measuring and Evaluating Partnering with Consumers
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for the Review of Clinical Variation in Health Care
Guides for priority populations
The following guides have been designed to help services improve the care they provide to patients who may be at higher risk of experiencing poor health outcomes.
NSQHS Standards User Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
The NSQHS Standards User Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health provides practical strategies for addressing the six actions in the NSQHS Standards that focus specifically on meeting the needs of First Nations people.
NSQHS Standards User Guide for the Health Care of People with Intellectual Disability
The NSQHS Standards User Guide for the Health Care of People with Intellectual Disability provides strategies for improvement that relate to each action in the NSQHS Standards. The strategies outline specific ways you can support people with intellectual disability and help them get the care they need and deserve.
NSQHS Standards User guide for acute and community health service organisations that provide care for children
The NSQHS Standards User guide for acute and community health service organisations that provide care for children identifies areas in which special consideration is required by health services providing care for children. There are suggested approaches for each criterion in the NSQHS Standards that can help you plan, implement and evaluate services for children.
NSQHS Standards User guide for health service organisations providing care for patients from migrant and refugee backgrounds
The NSQHS Standards User guide for health service organisations providing care for patients from migrant and refugee backgrounds focuses on five actions from the NSQHS standards where specific efforts are required to meet the health care needs of people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. It provides reflective questions and strategies for improvement, as well as useful information about why migrant and refuges populations may need extra support.
NSQHS Standards User guide for health service organisations providing care for patients with cognitive impairment or at risk of delirium
The NSQHS Standards User guide for health service organisations providing care for patients with cognitive impairment or at risk of delirium outlines critical actions in the NSQHS Standards that support safe and high-quality care for patients with cognitive impairment or at risk of delirium.
NSQHS Standards User guide for health services providing care for people with mental health issues
The NSQHS Standards User guide for health services providing care for people with mental health issues is intended to support members of the workforce when they are providing health services to people with existing or emerging mental health issues. It highlights which actions in the NSQHS Standards support the delivery of health care for people with mental health issues and provides strategies for improvements and examples of evidence.
Guides for different settings and specific types of care
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for Medication Management in Cancer Care
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for Medication Management in Cancer Care for clinicians
- Fact sheet on Clinical Governance for managers and clinician managers in cancer care
- Fact sheet on Clinical Governance for medical oncologists and haematologists in cancer care
- Fact sheet on Clinical Governance for pharmacists in cancer care
- A self-audit of medication management in cancer care
- Consumer fact sheet on receiving medication for cancer care
- NSQHS Standards User Guide for Acute and Community Mental Health Services – to support dedicated mental health services
- NSQHS Standards User guide for health services providing care for people with mental health issues – to support health services that do not specialise in mental health, but provide care to people with mental health issues
- Map of the NSQHS Standards (second edition) with the National Standards for Mental Health Services – to demonstrate alignment between the two sets of standards
Clinical fact sheets
- NSQHS Standards Workforce Immunisation Risk Matrix
- National Inpatient Medication Chart (NIMC) for Day Procedure Services fact sheet
- Implementing a Single Unit Blood Transfusion Policy
- Action 3.13 Clean and safe environment fact sheet
- Oral health care for adult inpatients recommendations and fact sheet
Research
Cultural safety research
- Cultural safety training: Analysis of national survey results and literature review
- National Survey on Cultural Safety Training fact sheet
Live literature searches
These PubMed live searches have been developed, tested and endorsed as part of the Health Libraries for the National Standards Research Project (HeLiNS), a joint initiative of Health Libraries Australia and Health Libraries Inc.
The searches provide updated results for topics aligned to NSQHS Standards.
Access the live literature searches
Audience
- Clinicians working in Australian hospitals who wish to find evidence to support best practice in line with the NSQHS Standards
- Researchers
- Safety and quality staff
- Health service managers
- Policymakers
- Consumers
- Health librarians
Searches
These searches provide access to current evidence on 13 topics related to best practice in Australian health services.
- Health Literacy
- Shared decision making
- Blood Management
- Clinical Handover
- Delirium
- Deteriorating Patient
- Falls Prevention
- Infection Prevention
- Malnutrition
- Medication Safety
- Partnering with Consumers
- Pressure Injuries
- Wound Management
The searches are not intended to be comprehensive. They aim to provide high specificity (relevance) so that results returned will be of immediate use. The base search for each topic focuses on a hospital setting and is limited to the last 5 years. Subsets are provided for each topic, including:
- Australian only
- last 12 months only
- reviews
- guidelines
- quality improvement
These searches work best in the Chrome and Firefox browsers. All queries concerning the live literature searches should be directed to Gemma Siemensma via email.