Latest News
NDAP agencies choose HDAA
15th February 2010
A number of the agencies in the NDAP trial audit programme have already chosen HDAA to complete their audit. We are looking forward to working with our new NDAP clients to contribute to the development of advocacy nationally.
Please contact HDAA if you have any queries regarding the NDAP or would like to discuss the supportive service HDAA can provide to your agency.
Draft Infection Control Guidelines
13th January 2010
PROPOSED GUIDELINES
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Healthcare (the Commission), have recently made the Australian Infection Control Guidelines: preventing and managing infection in health care (the draft Guidelines) available to public comment.
The aim of these draft Guidelines is to assist a coordinated approach to the management of health care associated infection. They have been developed to support other initiatives of the Commission's Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI). Please refer to http://www.health.gov.au and go to Our Work for further detail of HAI.
The draft Australian Infection Control Guidelines have been written from a care delivery perspective, focus on safety and quality and using a risk management framework. This approach differs from the current Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) 2004 Infection Control Guidelines for the prevention of transmission of infectious diseases in the health care setting which are disease and setting specific.
The NHMRC is keen to receive feedback from the community in the development of the guidelines.
To make a submission please refer to the Guidelines section of the NHMRC website http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/consult. The closing date for submissions is 10 March 2010.
National Disability Advocacy Programme (NDAP)
16th November 2009
The National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP) assists more than 37,000 people with disability across Australia to overcome barriers that impact on their daily life and their ability to participate in the community. The sector has been working with the Department on the development of quality assurance assessment process as part of the national Disability Services Quality Strategy.
Health and Disability Auditing Australia is a member of the JAS-ANZ’s Disability Advocacy Technical Committee developing the independent monitoring process (Procedure 29) for the NDAP certification scheme. The Procedure will be used by accredited Certification Bodies to certify NDAP agencies against revised Disability Advocacy Standards and Key Performance Indicators and Evidence Guidelines. The approach builds on the Disability Employment Services scheme, the Queensland Disability Support Standards scheme and the Standards Disability Services in Victoria scheme.
The NDAP scheme is to be trialled from November 2009. Training for Certification Bodies is being facilitated by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) in late November. Twelve advocacy agencies from across Australia have been selected to participate in the trial programme.
A full independent evaluation of the trail will be conducted and legislative changes implementation prior the certification scheme launch in early 2011.
FaHCSIA and the NDAP sector have developed the National Disability Advocacy Programme Quality Improvement Toolkit. The Toolkit is designed to provide practical tools, resources and advice to assist NDAP agencies develop and improve advocacy work within existing and future quality assurance requirements. The toolkit is freely available to agencies and can be accessed from:
www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/pubs
Consultation Draft of 2nd Edition Practice Accreditation Standards
17th June 2009
The suite of draft accreditation standards proposed for the second stage of the Diagnostic Imaging Practice Accreditation Scheme has been released by the Department of Health and Ageing for public comment.
The Consultation Draft of 2nd Edition Practice Accreditation Standards has nine higher level standards which a practice seeking accreditation would be expected to meet under the second stage of the scheme.
The additional standards include the four priorities identified by the Australian Commission on Safety & Quality in Health Care:
- Patient identification
- Infection control
- Medication management
- Clinical handover
The five other new standards identified by the Consultative Working Group of technical experts in diagnostic imaging cover:
- Equipment
- Radiation dose optimisation
- Informed patient consent
- Diagnostic Imaging protocols
- Patient feedback and complaints management
Feedback to the Department of Health and Ageing on the draft 2nd Edition Practice Accreditation Standards is invited before the close of business on 10 July 2009. Please download the document for contact details.
DI Accreditation Scheme
27th March 2009
The Department of Health and Ageing has released information in relation to Stage 2 of the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme.
The Department's website has been updated and the link is http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/diagnosticimaging-accred2
The Department has also released a paper "Moving to the Next Phase of Accreditation" which can be found at the following address:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/ Content/diagim-accred4
Health and Disability Auditing Australia, as an accrediting body for Stage 1, is working with The Department of Health and Ageing and preparing to become a provider of Stage 2 of the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme.
