WA Primary Health Alliance commissioned service providers have embraced the opportunity to undertake mental health accreditation after minimum requirements were introduced by WAPHA late last year, and providers were supported with grants to help them on this journey.
Introduction of these new accreditation requirements not only increases transparency and accountability in decision making but fosters a shared commitment with our service providers to common clinical governance and accreditation goals.
The National Standards for Mental Health Services (NSMHS) and National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) were developed to provide health services with a framework to deliver safe care and continuously improve the quality of the service they provide.
Find out more about our commitment to safe and quality mental health services.
Holyoake seizes the opportunity to achieve accreditation
As a specialist alcohol and other drugs service provider, Holyoake has developed significant capability in responding to mental health issues and concerns. The main driver for this is that AOD and mental health issues often go hand in hand.
Holyoake CEO, Lorraine Keane, said when WA Primary Health Alliance provided grants to support accreditation against the NSMHS, they seized the opportunity.
“With a six-month lead time, the grant created capacity within our team to undertake a self-assessment, identify gaps and issues that needed to be addressed, and make the necessary improvements.
“Every day, Holyoake counsellors are working with consumers and supporting them to manage AOD and related mental health issues. Our formal relationships with primary mental health services in each of our locations have never been stronger, creating an environment for working collaboratively to deliver integrated care for our consumers.
“Achieving accreditation against the National Standards for Mental Health Services is an outstanding achievement by the Holyoake team and provides acknowledgement and recognition of our high-level capability to deliver mental health services, in addition to specialist AOD services. Holyoake is also accredited under the Alcohol and other Drug Human Services Standard, and this, alongside the NSMHS, provides us with a solid foundation for continuous quality improvement in AOD and mental health service delivery,” she said.
Accreditation journey beneficial for Amity Health
Amity Health delivers health services across the Great Southern and Wheatbelt regions, including integrated mental health care.
Amity Health CEO, Robin Surridge, said achieving accreditation is always a journey and one that has been a beneficial experience for Amity Health.
“The grant provided by WA Primary Health Alliance supported us to look at a new way of capturing our clinical, risk and governance practices through the purchase of innovative software that allows comparison and cross mapping of the requirements of a range of standards.
“Working towards these and other standards represents a significant step forward on our quality improvement journey and will ultimately enable us to support our clients the best we can.”
Accreditation takes Clear Health Psychology from strength to strength
Clear Health Psychology Managing Director, Maxine Hawkins, said the National Mental Health Standards accreditation process has provided Clear Health Psychology with a comprehensive framework to ensure they are delivering a quality service to their clients and a place where staff can be proud to work.
“This opportunity enables us to really think about how risk and quality work together, not just focus on the direct clinical care.
“The accreditation process involved a significant team effort and allowed us to reflect on past, present and future and building a robust service that will enable us to go from strength to strength.”