Citation
(2008), "New Zealand to implement new healthcare standards in partnership with ACHS", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 21 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2008.06221fab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
New Zealand to implement new healthcare standards in partnership with ACHS
Article Type: News and views From: International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 21, Issue 6
Keywords Quality improvement plan, Quality standards, Safe management
New Zealand is set to implement new healthcare standards, which build on the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) accreditation program (Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program – EQuIP). Telarc SAI (which acquired the New Zealand Council of Healthcare Standards in 2007) and the ACHS have signed an agreement for providing healthcare accreditation services in New Zealand.
Peter Rose, Chief Executive, Telarc SAI said that the new version of the EQuIP standards – version 4 – recently released by ACHS was timely as it coincided with the need to update the Quality Health New Zealand Standard: “EQuIP is working successfully with public and private healthcare providers in Australia and elsewhere in the world. Telarc SAI’s partnership with ACHS will bring international best practice to the healthcare industry with New Zealand healthcare providers able to benchmark their performance with Australian providers.”
Through local consultation, an appropriate New Zealand version of the standards has been developed with the same emphasis on safe delivery of clinical care and consumer expectations.
The internationally recognised standards are already used by the majority of Australian healthcare organisations to guide their safety and quality improvement efforts. ACHS Chief Executive, Mr Brian Johnston commented: “This cross-Tasman partnership represents an exciting milestone for improving the quality and safety of healthcare in Australia and New Zealand. It presents an opportunity for us to learn from the New Zealand implementation.”
The EQuIP 4 standards (which were developed via an extensive consultation with consumer representatives, government bodies, peak industry associations and colleges) increase the emphasis on issues such as the safe management.
For more information, please visit: www.achs.org.au