The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)   ACHS Medal 2009   Citation   The 2009 ACHS Medal is awarded to Dr Taffy Jones AM for outstanding achievement in the promotion of quality and safety in healthcare services. The ACHS is proud and pleased to honour Dr Jones with our highest award.   After some years as a general medical practitioner, Dr Taffy Jones served as Director of Medical Services in turn at Geelong Hospital, Austin Hospital and The Alfred Hospital.  Since retiring from full-time employment close to a decade ago, he has remained very active as an ACHS surveyor and in the Doctors’ Health Program of the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria and he has contributed to the development of health services on AusAID projects in the Asia Pacific region.  In particular he has been to Vietnam for several extended periods.    He was the founding chair of the Board of the Victorian Doctors’ Health Program and held the role for about five years.   Graeme Houghton, Board Director, from Western Health and an ACHS surveyor nominated Taffy and commented on his experiences with him while Graeme was the CEO of the Austin Hospital. He described Taffy as a constantly strong promoter of peer review quality processes and clinical audit, not only for the medical staff but also for the division of allied health, which also reported to him. He was a strong advocate of adequately resourced quality management programs for all professional streams and he provided very practical guidance to particular quality improvement projects such as better planning of discharge processes.   Past President of the ACHS Dr Brian Collopy was one of the referees for Taffy’s nomination. Dr Collopy commented that in his role as an ACHS surveyor Taffy’s interpersonal skills, “coupled with his sound knowledge of hospital practices were invaluable. With Taffy as a surveyor the ACHS could be rest assured that healthcare organisations would obtain a view of ACHS as a professional, knowledgeable and fair organisation. It was of great benefit to the ACHS that it was able to retain his experience over so many years.”   Another of Taffy’s referees, Dr Alison Street former Chair, Senior Medical Staff, The Alfred Hospital, described Taffy Jones as a rare individual in that he had “credibility in both directions”, with clinicians and administrators. With both integrity and enthusiasm, Dr Street commented that he was ‘the best Director of Medical Services I’ve met’.   Taffy has perhaps the best known, and most widely appreciated, sense of humour in the Australian healthcare system.  He uses it very effectively to soften the very forthright observations he makes about problems and how to rectify them.   Taffy Jones has been a surveyor since 1983 and he has undertaken 172 surveys.   He was made a Member of the Order of Australia this year.   We are delighted to present this very deserving recipient with the ACHS Medal for 2009.     Associate Professor Peter Woodruff President, ACHS