Provisional Accreditation – Primary and Community Healthcare Standards

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) launched the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards (Primary and Community Care Standards or PCHS) on 12 October 2021.

QIP is proud to be an approved accrediting agency by the Commission against the PHCS Standards and associated accreditation scheme.

With accreditation against the Primary and Community Care Standards expected to commence in mid-2022, eligible primary and community care health services will have the option to undertake provisional accreditation in the interim. The provisional accreditation will be assessed against a smaller set of the National Safety and Quality Health Care (NSQHS) Standards (second edition).

QIP is offering provisional accreditation for health services that require accreditation as part of their regulatory requirements and will eventually apply for accreditation against the Primary Care Standards. The provisional accreditation period under the NSQHS Standards component is valid for up to 18 months, followed by an additional 18 months for the PCHS component (total 3 year period).

As stated in an Advisory (AS21/04) released by the Commission, the assessment requirements for provisional accreditation will be undertaken against 87 actions of the NSQHS Standards (second edition) followed by six (6) actions of the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards.

Provisional accreditation is only available for health and community care services that are wishing to transition to the PCHS Standards once available. Further details will be provided by the Commission regarding the full transition arrangements to the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards. With the release of the PCHS, health services wishing to accredit against these Standards can commence implementation at their own pace once assessment pathway details have been confirmed.

If your health or community service is interested in provisional accreditation, contact our team today.