New standard for general practice launched today

3 August 2011

New standard for general practice launched today

The new version of Aiming for Excellence, the standard for general practice will be launched by Health Minister Tony Ryall tonight.

Aiming for Excellence is produced by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and provides indicators and criteria that are used by general practice teams to organise their systems and processes to provide better care to patients. It is also used by the CORNERSTONE™ General Practice Accreditation programme to assess quality in general practices.

The 2011 version will be launched at a function held by the RNZCGP tonight.

RNZCGP President Dr Harry Pert says about 80% of New Zealand general practices are taking part in the CORNERSTONE quality assurance programme so the public can have confidence in the systems and processes their family doctors have in place to provide high quality care and advice.

“Aiming for Excellence provides essential guidance for GP practices, which are operating in an ever-changing environment. With the ever-changing and diverse needs of patients and the wealth of new technologies being introduced, the dynamics of many practice systems need to change.

“The new Aiming for Excellence provides guidance and identifies opportunities for practice teams to make improvements. It takes into consideration the additional pressure the changing environment places on GPs to be accountable, not just to their patients but to the health sector as a whole.

“Aiming for Excellence 2011 also provides a recognised standard for practices to compare themselves against.

“Using Aiming for Excellence in the CORNERSTONE process enables practices to learn what is already working well in other practices and share their experiences with others creating opportunities for further development.”

629 general practices are now accredited against Aiming for Excellence, and 80% of all practices in New Zealand are currently registered with the CORNERSTONE programme.

Dr Pert says this is an outstanding achievement for what is essentially a voluntary programme. “Our recognition and thanks go to the many doctors, nurses and practice managers who give so much of their precious time to improving the operations and systems in their practice.

“We at the RNZCGP are proud of what the programme and general practice teams have achieved to date, and excited about what practices can continue to achieve for their patients in the future following the launch of the new standard today.”

ENDS

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