Australian Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission – aged care standards (clinical governance)

All Commonwealth-subsidised aged care services are required to comply with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Quality standards. The Quality standards focus on outcomes for consumers and reflect the level of care and services the community can expect from organisations that provide Commonwealth-subsidised aged care services.

Standard 8. Organisational governance is of particular importance to GPs because it focuses on organisational governance for the delivery of safe and quality care and services within RACFs.

Recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final report highlight the importance of GPs being at the centre of planning for ageing and aged care. All bodies that provide advice on or oversee clinical governance, such as aged care advisory and workforce councils, should include a GP representative to ensure a focus on health and wellbeing needs, the value of general practice care and the prioritisation of integrated, comprehensive, coordinated and continuous care.¹

Standard 8. Organisational governance of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Quality standards details strategic priorities to promote a culture of safety and quality in aged care facilities’ governance systems. It is expected that aged care facilities have governance systems in place to assess, monitor and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the care and services they provide. RACFs should consider the importance of GPs in the clinical governance of their facility and involve them in quality care discussions.

Resident engagement is also of particular importance in the development, delivery and evaluation of care and services in the Quality standards. Standard 8. Organisational governance details that aged care facilities are expected to ask for input from a wide range of consumers about their experiences and the quality of the care and services they have received (refer to Part C: Quality improvement).

• Standard 8. Organisational governance of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Quality standards
• Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Fact sheet 1: Introduction to clinical governance – outlines the responsibilities of RACFs for checking the registration of visiting practitioners