Quality and Safety


Issues around best practice and the quality and safety of health services have become a major concern in recent years for providers and consumers, both in Australia and overseas. There is an increasing body of literature about strategies, models and approaches to assist clinicians in improving clinical practice.

The College has an important role in fostering an environment that rewards the practice of evidence-based health care. One way we can do this is by providing Fellows and trainees with the practical tools of quality improvement while traversing the appropriate educational framework.

The Quality Portfolio utilises the central concepts of Clinical Practice improvement (CPI) and Evidence Based Practice (EBP) to enable clinicians to embed best practice routinely in clinical care. The Quality Expert Advisory Group (EAG) is the peak quality policy group within the College. They provide advice to the Quality and Safety Program on safety and quality issues appropriate to the training and CPD activities of the College, and inform the College and external groups and agencies such as the Australian Commission for Quality and Safety in Health Care, and the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards.

The predominant focus of the Quality EAG is to develop high level policy and strategies for dissemination throughout the College Fellowship and beyond, with the imperatives of garnering wide physician and broader health system support for ensuring high quality practice, and emphasising the role of the College in making sure physicians are safe and practising well. The Group also seeks to play a role at ‘ground level', acting as a supporting and co-ordinating body in implementing change at the clinical practice level.

The Quality EAG is responsible for strengthening the capacity of the RACP to contribute to the development of quality and safety improvement measures and their implementation.  The Quality EAG provides leadership within the College to support trainees and Fellows in applying quality principles to improve health outcomes.

 To contact QEAG please email: quality@racp.edu.au

Key Policy Areas

Clinical performance

  • Credentialing and scope of practice for physicians
  • Re-certification of physicians
  • Maintenance of professional standards and clinical performance improvement
  • Clinical indicators for medical subspecialties
  • Role of accreditation in physician practice
  • Legal issues in clinical performance monitoring
  • Regulation and clinical performance

Models of Care

  • Strengthening the role of consultant physicians to improve systems of care for better patient outcomes and experience

Adverse Events

  • Understanding the role of physicians in reducing adverse events
  • Open disclosure
  • Use of clinical registries to monitor quality & safety health outcomes
  • Clinical relevance of administrative data in assessing and improving quality of care

Research

  • Issues in quality & safety research
  • What's new in quality and safety?

Projects and Programs

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