Accreditation to Quality Health New Zealand standards is a structured process of organisational performance assessment to encourage continuous quality improvement.  The standards cover all aspects of client care and service as well as the organisational systems that support the provision of that care and service. The surveys are done by health professionals and managers whose expertise and credibility are recognised and respected in the health and disability sector.

We expect the new EQuIP4 standards regime to be fully operational in New Zealand in the near future. The new standards are derived from the standards used by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) and are an exciting move forward for the Quality Health New Zealand (QHNZ) accreditation programme.  

These standards will replace the current standards used by QHNZ surveyors when assessing health care organisations for accreditation. They emphasise outcomes rather than processes and their scope is broader than the present standards. They focus more on consumer participation and acceptability, there is a greater emphasis on clinical care, and patient safety is given a high profile.

Standards that will be new to our New Zealand members include:

• Ongoing care and management of chronic disease
• Decision-making at end of life
• Cultural and special needs
• Encouraging and governing research
• Safety standards

These and other standards are currently being fine tuned into a package that will be of value to all our members. They will be piloted by selected organisations later this year and we expect them to be in use by all of our members from 2008.