The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) has recently clarified the requirements for general practices to be accredited to the RACGP Standards for point-of-care testing (5th edition) (PoCT Standards). The ACSQHC has expanded the standards under the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme to include the PoCT Standards.
For general practices seeking accreditation to the PoCT Standards outside their practice’s accreditation assessment, in agreement with their accrediting agency an on-site or hybrid assessment (one assessor on site, one assessor off site participating virtually) can occur. All hybrid assessments must be approved by the ACSQHC before the assessment takes place.
Arrangements for hybrid assessments to the PoCT Standards will remain in place until 1 November 2023.
Accreditation of a general practice to the RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) is a pre-requisite for the PoCT Standards. Approved accrediting agencies may assess general practices to the PoCT Standards under the NGPA Scheme. You can find more information on the ACSQHC website.
