Northern Health has received formal notification from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) that we have met all actions within the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.

Northern Health was acknowledged for the progress it has made since the last assessment and the commencement of its strategic journey towards a ‘High Reliability Organisation’.

“This is a fantastic achievement and is a direct reflection on the quality of the care that our staff provide to our patients and our broader consumers every day. We can all be proud of this affirmation of the quality of services we provide to our community,” said Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive.

Northern Health was congratulated on the continued focus on collection and evaluation of key performance measures, throughout the pandemic-affected clinical and non-clinical operations of the health service. The assessors acknowledged that the previous 12 months have been particularly challenging for both the health service and staff individually.

Assessors reported that staff were well informed and engaged on governance, their processes, and outcomes, and readily discussed their current improvement work.

Maree Glynn, Director of Clinical Practice Improvement, said this is a fantastic achievement.

“I would like to thank everyone for being so adaptable. Our staff were able to adapt to our ever-changing environment and were ready for parts of the Accreditation to be undertaken remotely,” she said.

“To achieve an Accreditation result with no recommendations, nothing that we have to correct, is a wonderful achievement,” she added.

“Some of the feedback from surveyors included compliments like ‘care is the best it can be at Northern Health’ or ‘can-do attitude comes across in everything that you do’ etc.”, which is great feedback we should all be proud of,” Maree added.

The assessors were impressed that staff were consistently focused on patient and staff safety, quality of care, and experience. They also noted our commitment to a values-based culture, respecting choices, improving services and outcomes for all consumers, and acknowledged extensive positive feedback from consumers and volunteers.

Dr Bill Shearer, Executive Director, Quality, Safety and Transformation, thanked Maree Glynn, Marisa Argetto, Standard Chairs and Clinical Improvement Committees, for the amazing effort they have put into preparing us for Accreditation.

“You did so much work in the lead up to the Accreditation. This is probably the first hybrid survey that has been successfully completed. Thank you to all our staff and a huge congratulations to all,” he said.

Jennifer Williams AM, Board Chair, said “On behalf of the board, I express my appreciation to all staff on this significant achievement.”