Accreditation - common non-compliances in RACGP accreditation and how to prepare for them

Join NWMPHN and QIP consulting in a session that explores the most common areas of non-compliance identified during RACGP accreditation assessments and provides practical strategies for avoiding them. Participants will leave with actionable tips and tools to strengthen their practice’s quality, safety, and compliance processes.

Accreditation is a critical process that drives safety, quality, and continuous improvement in general practice. However, a small number of indicators are consistently associated with non-compliance findings. In this session, we will examine the top areas where practices most frequently encounter challenges during RACGP 5th Edition accreditation, based on national trends and on-the-ground consulting experience.

Participants will gain insights into common pitfalls across clinical governance, human resources, infection control, incident management, feedback systems, cold chain management and risk management. We will provide practical examples, templates, and tips that can be directly applied to everyday practice operations to minimise risk and maximise compliance.

The session will also cover real-world solutions for common challenges, such as maintaining current health summaries, managing cold chain processes, documenting performance discussions, ensuring CPR and immunisation requirements are met, and building a strong internal risk culture. Participants will leave the session better equipped to strengthen systems, evidence their compliance, and foster a culture of continuous quality improvement across their teams.

Speaker:

Riley O’Hanlon has extensive experience in the comprehension, application, and compliance of health care standards and associated guidelines. She previously served as Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited’s client liaison officer for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. She supported services across a broad range of accreditation topics including clinical governance, infection control, human resource management, safety and quality, risk management, and cold chain management.

As the national manager of QIP Consulting, Riley specialises in the development of standards, resources, templates, and bespoke documentation, and conducts gap assessments for health care organisations across Australia. 

She has played key roles in the development and review of several national standards frameworks, corporate quality frameworks, and pilot studies, and is passionate about supporting services to embed continuous improvement practices.

With a background in the medical industry, Riley also holds a personal interest in mental health, multiculturalism, domestic violence, and suicide prevention. Her approach is collaborative, patient, and firmly focused on tailoring services to meet the unique needs of each client.

Riley is committed to promoting practical, sustainable quality improvement in health care and brings real-world expertise and enthusiasm to her educational sessions.

Learning outcomes:

1. Identify and describe the ten most common RACGP accreditation non-compliances and why they occur.
2. Apply practical strategies to strengthen compliance and quality improvement activities in their practice.
3. Demonstrate how to use tools such as feedback registers, risk registers, and incident logs to support accreditation evidence.
4. Evaluate their practice’s internal systems and implement targeted improvements in preparation for accreditation.