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 September 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	2,190	1,731	1,389	431	661	136	56	100	6,694
Aboriginal Medical Service	56	24	62	17	24	6	70	2	261
Total	2,246	1,755	1,451	448	685	142	126	102	6,955

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 September 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	2,041
C3.5B	Work health and safety	1,567
QI2.1B	Health summaries	1,540
GP3.1C	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	1,174
C8.1B	Education and training of non-clinical staff	1,165
QI1.2B	Patient feedback	991
QI1.2C	Patient feedback	897
C6.4D	Information security	790
C3.1C	Business operation systems	765
GP5.3A	Doctor’s bag	732
QI3.1A	Managing clinical risks	730
GP6.1C	Maintaining vaccine potency	719
QI2.2E	Safe and quality use of medicines	713
QI1.2A	Patient feedback	711
QI3.1B	Managing clinical risks	670
GP5.2A	Practice equipment	669
GP5.2B	Practice equipment	660
C8.1A	Education and training of non-clinical staff	575
GP4.1A	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	567
GP6.1B	Maintaining vaccine potency	563
C3.2B	Accountability and responsibility	561
C7.1C	Content of patient health records	553
C6.4E	Information security	513
C1.1A	Information about your practice	491
C3.2D	Accountability and responsibility	485
GP4.1D	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	455
C7.1G	Content of patient health records	426
GP2.2B	Follow-up systems	365
GP1.3B	Care outside of normal opening hours	352
C7.1B	Content of patient health records	335
C2.1E	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	325
C6.3A	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	325
GP2.3B	Engaging with other services	324
C3.2E	Accountability and responsibility	324
GP6.1D	Maintaining vaccine potency	324
GP2.2E	Follow-up systems	316
QI1.3B	Improving clinical care	310
GP2.2A	Follow-up systems	310
GP4.1B	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	303
C3.1A	Business operation systems	301
QI1.1C	Quality improvement activities	287
C3.3A	Emergency response plan	269
C3.2C	Accountability and responsibility	268
QI2.1A	Health summaries	266
QI1.1D	Quality improvement activities	252
GP3.1B	Qualifications, education and training of healthcare practitioners	250
QI2.2D	Safe and quality use of medicines	212
C2.2A	Presence of a third party during a consultation	203
C3.1D	Business operation systems	200
GP6.1A	Maintaining vaccine potency	200
C3.5A	Work health and safety	192
GP4.1C	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	190
C3.2A	Accountability and responsibility	189
QI1.1B	Quality improvement activities	187
C7.1E	Content of patient health records	183
GP5.2E	Practice equipment	181
GP1.2A	Home and other visits	164
C1.2A	Communications	159
C6.4F	Information security	150
GP1.1C	Responsive system for patient care	147
C6.4B	Information security	132
QI2.2A	Safe and quality use of medicines	129
GP5.1C	Practice facilities	128
C6.4G	Information security	107
C1.3B	Informed patient decisions	107
C6.1A	Patient identification	98
C7.1D	Content of patient health records	97
QI2.2C	Safe and quality use of medicines	97
C3.4C	Practice communication and teamwork	92
GP1.3A	Care outside of normal opening hours	92
C6.3D	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	90
QI1.1A	Quality improvement activities	84
C6.3B	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	83
C6.3C	Confidentiality and privacy of health and other information	80
C6.4C	Information security	77
C5.3A	Clinical handover	77
GP2.1B	Continuous and comprehensive care	70
GP4.1E	Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation	70
GP2.2C	Follow-up systems	67
GP5.2D	Practice equipment	57
C3.4A	Practice communication and teamwork	57
C2.1B	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	53
GP5.1F	Practice facilities	51
C1.4A	Interpreter and other communication services	48
C1.4B	Interpreter and other communication services	42
C6.4A	Information security	41
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
C4.1A	Health promotion and preventive care	34
GP2.1C	Continuous and comprehensive care	33
GP5.1A	Practice facilities	32
C5.1A	Diagnosis and management of health issues	27
C5.1B	Diagnosis and management of health issues	27
GP2.4B	Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship	25
C1.3A	Informed patient decisions	24
C3.4B	Practice communication and teamwork	24
GP2.4A	Transfer of care and the patient–practitioner relationship	22
GP1.1B	Responsive system for patient care	21
C6.2B	Patient health record systems	20
C3.6A	Research	20
C3.6B	Research	20
C6.2A	Patient health record systems	20
C2.1C	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	18
C7.1A	Content of patient health records	18
C2.1A	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	17
C3.6C	Research	16
GP5.1E	Practice facilities	16
GP1.1A	Responsive system for patient care	12
GP5.2C	Practice equipment	12
C2.1D	Respectful and culturally appropriate care	6
C1.5B	Costs associated with care initiated by the practice	5
GP5.1D	Practice facilities	4
GP5.1B	Practice facilities	4
GP2.1A	Continuous and comprehensive care	2
GP2.3A	Engaging with other services	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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