Accreditation in general practice was established to promote a culture of quality and safety in Australian general practices. General practices are assessed for accreditation against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practices, which are considered the benchmark for high quality care.

Benefits of Accreditation:

• Improve patient safety and overall health outcomes
• Reduce risk in practice
• Improve practice efficiency
• Build a culture of quality in the practice environment 
• Develop staff skills and engaging the practice team in continuous quality improvement
• Access to financial incentives for general practice – Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Service Incentive Payments (SIP) from Medicare.

To access the PIP Income Estimator please click here. 

Approved Organisations

There are currently four approved organisations which provide accreditation services to general practices in Australia:

1. AGPAL - Australian General Practice Accreditation Ltd
   Website: AGPAL
   Phone: 1300 362 111 
   Email: info@qip.com.au
2. Global Mark Pty Ltd
   Website: Global Mark
   Phone: 1300 766 509 
   Email: health@global-mark.com.au  
3. Quality Practice Accreditation Pty Ltd
   Website: GPA Plus
   Phone: 1800 188 088
   Email: info@gpa.net.au
   
4. The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards
   Website: ACHS
   Phone: 02 9281 9955 
   Email: achs@ashs.org.au 

Patient Feedback

Under the 4th Edition, practices are required to use a validated patient experience questionnaire that has been approved by the RACGP. The RACGP has approved four validated patient feedback questionnaires:

• RACGP approved validated patient feedback questionnaires
• Practices may also choose to have a practice specific feedback mechanism, such as focus groups or patient interviews where the practice has sufficiently skilled staff. For more information see the RACGP Patient feedback guide: Learning from our patients and FAQs on patient feedback.

Once feedback (eg. survey, suggestion or complaint) is received, the practice must act on the feedback. 

Contingency Plan

The 4th edition of RACGP Standards require practices to have contingency plans for unusual events such as natural disasters, disease outbreak or the unexpected absence of key members of the clinical team that may disrupt patient care. 

The RACGP has developed the online Emergency Response Planning Tool to assist general practices to create their customised emergency response plan. The plan can be saved online and/or printed as a hard copy resource, by completing  a series of planning templates online. The Emergency Response Planning Tool costs $330 inclusive of GST per year.

• Emergency Response Planning Tool registration form

Alternatively, practices can create their own contingency plan manually. Please contact our Primary Care Engagement team for further support.

Infection Control

It is essential that GPs and practice staff implement policies and procedures that maintain and enhance public health and safety by ensuring that the risk of the spread of infectious diseases is prevented or minimised.

Our Primary Care Engagement team can arrange training in infection control to your practice staff based on the RACGP Infection prevention and control standards.

Cold Chain Management

Practices should have a well managed Cold Chain Management system and procedures in place to ensure patients receive effective vaccinations and avoid legal implications.

Our Primary Care Engagement team can arrange training in Cold Chain Management based on The Australian Immunisation Handbook 10th Edition and the Strive for 5.

Practice Support Services

Our Primary Care Engagement team can provide support for your practice undertaking accreditation for the first time, or for those undergoing re-accreditation. This support includes:

• Overview of Accreditation  – deciding on an accrediting body
• Enabling the practice to plan and implement policies and procedures
• Providing feedback regarding the readiness for accreditation
• Providing templates and resources
• Providing in-house training for practice staff on infection control and cold chain management
• Demonstrating available resources - AGPAL “Qbay” and GPA Accreditation Plus websites.

For more information and to arrange a practice visit for accreditation support, please email our Primary Care Engagement team via email at practicesupport@ddwmphn.com.au