PETERSHAM FAMILY MEDICAL CENTRE completed accreditation on Wednesday 5th March 2014. We were inspected by two GPA ACCREDITATION plus Accreditors and as a result of our careful and persistent work to meet the high standard of Accreditation we were advised that we passed with flying colours. This credit entirely goes to our experienced, committed and excellent staff who all worked together to achieve this goal.

What is Australian General Practice Accreditation?

General Practice Accreditation (GPA) is your guarantee that a medical practice meets the highest possible quality standards of practice. General practices that achieve accreditation must meet a set of nationally recognised standards that focus on health care quality and patient safety.

To be accredited, a practice must demonstrate that it:

• is committed to your health care.
• educates you about your health needs
• can clearly identify who you are
• protects your privacy and maintains the security of your personal health information at all times
• stays informed about current quality health care, and
• continuously looks at ways to improve services.

Practice Accreditation is a voluntary process – medical practices are not required to gain accreditation but may choose to do so if they wish to offer their patients the highest possible quality of care. Accreditation of a medical practice is provided by an independent third party assessor such as GPA ACCREDITATION plus or AGPAL. Achieving General Practice accreditation is not easy. Accreditation is only granted if a practice is able to conclusively demonstrate and maintain the highest possible standards of health care provision, practice management and administration.

Practices that choose to undergo accreditation must commit themselves to a comprehensive program which involves review of the practice’s systems and processes, involving all the Centre’s staff including reception staff, the practice manager, practice nurses and doctors.

The accreditation standards are set by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). The RACGP represents over 19,300 general practitioners, conducts research, lobbies and advocates on issues that affect GPs and their practice teams, including the setting of accreditation standards and the overseeing of the accreditation process.

As part of the accreditation process, we asked many of our patients to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their experience at our Centre. The overall results showed a high level of satisfaction with our services. However, some patients expressed a desire to see more doctors and allied health practitioners practicing at our Centre. Consequently, as a result of this feedback, we have added more doctors and allied health practitioners to our practice.

We now have four General Practitioners at the Centre, including male and female doctors. In addition, we are now able to offer the most comprehensive range of allied health practitioners operating at the same location of any health practice in the local area, including Podiatrists, Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Dieticians and Clinical Psychologists.