MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday 22 August 2006

Report on the potential to improve quality of health care in Australia

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) today released its annual report on clinical indicator data for Australia and New Zealand (1998 – 2005). The information covered by clinical indicators (a unique eight year view of trends) ranges from rates of infection following surgery to reporting times for x-rays.

Chief Executive, Brian Johnston commented today at the 4^th Australasian Conference on Safety and Quality in Health Care in Melbourne (where the report was released to around 900 delegates), “This report can be used by health care organisations to identify areas of difference to the national and state results, investigate the causes and make improvements if required.”

“Another benefit of publishing these data is to encourage discussion on what we measure and how we measure it,” added Mr Johnston.

Some examples of indicators demonstrating improvement:

·          Reduction in rates for unplanned overnight admissions for day surgery

·          Reduction in delays for discharge from health care organisations (for day surgery patients).

Some examples of where further investigation may be required:

·          Increased rates for delays in attending to less urgent patients in emergency departments (triage categories: 2 to 5)

·          Increased rates for delays of greater than eight hours for admission to the ward from the emergency department. 

“It is important to note that indicator results significantly below or above the average may not necessarily indicate performance below or above the average. In some instances, depending on local casemix or circumstances, this may be entirely appropriate. The results are therefore best understood in the context of the local health care environment,” commented Mr Johnston.  

The ACHS Clinical Indicator Report for Australia and New Zealand 1998 – 2005 may be accessed via the ACHS website: www.achs.org.au under ‘What’s New?’ on the homepage.

ACHS member organisations represent 84% of public beds, 94% of private beds and 87% of all available beds in Australian health services.* The ACHS is Australia's leading health care accreditation agency. Our Council represents governments, consumers and peak health bodies from throughout Australia.

Further information: Megan Taylor, Manager, Communications, ACHS on 0416 280 826.

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards

5 Macarthur Street Ultimo NSW Australia

t 61 2 9281 9955  f 61 2 9211 9633 e achs@achs.org.au w http://www.achs.org.au