High priority actions and national standards
The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards provide a nationally consistent statement of the level of care consumers can expect from health service organisations.
The Essentials self-assessment tool, identifies nine domains: workforce, communication, data, systems, mental health, hospitalisation, integration of services within health services, integration with external services and specialised health services.
In total, across all themes there are 88 actions. 11 of these are considered high priority.
To help with accreditation these high priority actions are mapped to the relevant standards for health and primary and community services.
| Domain | Action | For health services | For primary and community services |
|---|---|---|---|
Workforce | There are local champions, mentors and/or key contacts for improved healthcare for people with intellectual disability within the health service | 1.01, 1.13, 2.06, 2.07, 4.11, 5.04, 6.09, 6.10 | 1.01, 1.04, 1.07, 1.09, 1.10, 1.24, 3.23 |
A senior staff member of the health service leads the coordination of responses to disability issues | 1.01, 1.05, 1.07,1.16, 1.20, 1.27, 1.29, 1.30, 1.31, 1.32, 1.33, 1.35, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 3.02, 4.02,4.03, 5.04, 5.24, 5.35, 5.36, 6.01 | 1.01, 1.04, 1.09 | |
Communication | All staff (including clerical and clinical staff) are provided with disability awareness training including a values and attitudes component | 1.20, 1.21, 1.22, 2.03, 2.07, 2.14 | 1.20, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 3.23, 3.32 |
Data | People with intellectual disability are identified in health service records, including whether they are participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) | 1.08, 1.15, 1.17,1.18, 6.04 | 1.04, 3.19 |
Policies and procedures are reviewed for their impact on inclusiveness of people with intellectual disability | 1.07, 1.15, 1.27, 2.01, 2.04, 2.05, 2.06, 2.09, 2.10, 2.13 | 1.04, 1.07, 1.09, 1.31, 1.30, 1.32, 2.06, 2.07 | |
System | People with intellectual disability and their carers are involved in healthcare planning and setting health goals in respect to their own healthcare | 1.04, 1.08, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 2.12, 6.03 | 1.01, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 2.08, 3.03, 3.15 |
Mental health | There is a specific health service strategy and plan for intellectual disability and mental health, which includes the involvement of justice health and ambulance services | 5.04, 5.05, 5.06, 5.21, 5.32, 5.33, 5.34, 8.04, 8.05, 8.06 | 1.01, 1.10 |
Hospitalisation | The health service has its own policies and procedures for the implementation of a statewide hospitalisation policy directive, which includes, or is specific to, people with intellectual disability | 1.07, 2.01, 2.08, 3.08, 4.02, 4.03, 4.06, 4.12, 5.15, 5.19, 5.20, 5.27, 5.28, 8.04, 8.05 | 1.07, 1.09 |
Integration within health services | People with intellectual disability who have chronic disease are supported to access chronic disease management, out-of-hospital and preventative health programs | 3.07, 3.09, 5.04, 5.12, 5.14, 5.27, 5.29, 5.30, 6.04 | 1.01, 1.10, 1.24, 1.31, 2.05 |
Integration with external services | Local service mapping and liaison has been undertaken in the health service to identify all community disability services and ability linkers and National Disability Insurance Agency outlets | 5.04, 5.05, 5.06, 6.04, 6.08 | 2.04, 2.07, 2.06, 3.19, 3.21, 3.33 |
Specialised health services | Links have been established between the health service and specialised disability health teams. There is consultation regarding developing protocols about hospital admissions, discharges and emergency department admissions for people with intellectual disability | 1.11, 5.05, 5.06, 5.09, 5.10,5.11, 5.13, 5.29, 5.30, 6.04, 6.08, 8.01, 8.12 | 1.04, 1.07, 1.30, 1.32, 3.23, 3.32 |
NSQHS Standards
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has developed resources to help health services provide safe and quality care for people with intellectual disability.
People with intellectual disability are included within the existing definition of cognitive impairment used for the Standards and are supported under specific cognitive impairment actions of:
- Comprehensive Care Standard, Preventing delirium and managing cognitive impairment actions
- Delirium clinical care standard