Practice accreditation

The National General Practice Accreditation Scheme supports the consistent assessment of Australian general practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Standards for general practices (5th edition): A benchmark for quality care and risk management in Australian general practices.

The scheme is administered by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.

Maintaining policies and procedures in accordance with accreditation standards is the responsibility of the whole practice team.

North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) is not itself a registered accreditation agency, but provides resources to support the process.

Accreditation agencies

Accreditation agencies are the first point of contact. Each practice will be assigned a support officer, as well as access to online resources provided by the agency. Visit the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care website for a list of approved accreditation agencies.

Practice Incentives Program

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care’s Practice Incentives Program (PIP) supports general practice activities that encourage continuing improvements, quality care, enhanced capacity and improved access and health outcomes for patients.

It is administered by Services Australia administer on behalf of the department and comprises 9 incentives in 3 payment streams. See guidelines here.

NWMPHN’s quality improvement program

We support general practices to deliver integrated, person-centred care that is comprehensive, accessible, safe and coordinated. Our quality improvement program is a key part of this.

Each practice in our catchment can create a practice plan for improvement.

An NWMPHN quality improvement program officer will work with you to tailor a plan to suit your needs and objectives, and support your growth. It will identify priorities for the following 12 months, and how we will work with you to achieve these. Find out more here.