West Gippsland Healthcare Group is celebrating after successfully achieving the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards accreditation.

The organisation received formal confirmation of a successful accreditation for three years by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) after being assessed last month.

To achieve accreditation, an external and independent peer review is undertaken to ensure healthcare organisations meet national quality standards.

West Gippsland Healthcare Group Chief Executive Officer Dan Weeks was pleased the organisation had once again achieved this accreditation.

“This assessment is based on a series of national standards. The Assessors review the application of the standards and our performance against them,” he said.

“The team of assessors were here for three days, visiting all areas, talking to staff, volunteers and patients, reviewing our policies and procedures, and observing our practices. It was a very thorough process and we were delighted with the feedback at the end of the visit, where teamwork, culture and collaboration were highlighted as strengths.

“I would like to commend all of our staff for their work and commitment in their approach to caring for our patients every day, which was reflected in the accreditation results. I also acknowledge and thank our consumers for their contribution during the assessment and evaluation process. This was a team effort.

“Achieving ACHS accreditation is a strong recognition of the quality of services we provide and the contribution of all our staff. It is great to see the high-level quality care we provide to our community here in West Gippsland recognised.”

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards are produced by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (the Commission) with the aim to protect the public from harm and to improve the quality of health service provision.

The ACHS is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, dedicated to improving the quality of health care in Australia and is licenced to assess the National Standards on behalf of the Commission.

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