Prison Sets New Benchmark 1st Health Accreditation
21 November 2003
Prison sets new benchmark with first health accreditation
The privately managed Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) has become the first prison in the country to receive Quality Health New Zealand Accreditation.
Legislation due in October 2004 will require all health service providers to achieve a Health Certification, though prisons will be exempted from the legislation.
"The accreditation ACRP has just achieved exceeds the standards that health providers will soon need to achieve for their certificate," said ACRP General Manager Dom Karauria.
"Once again ACRP has set the standard for service delivery in New Zealand prisons and has laid down the challenge for all other prisons."
Mr Karauria said the accreditation process was thorough and robust, focusing on all aspects of the prison pertaining to health service delivery, including the management and communications processes, mental and primary health service delivery, screening processes and cultural sensitivity.
"The staff and management at ACRP are very proud of this accreditation. It reflects our commitment to excellence in all areas and goes to reinforce the huge progress that has been made at ACRP across all areas," he said.
"Under the ACRP management contract we were not required to achieve this accreditation. We chose to do so because excellence in this area directly benefits the people we care for and anything less than the very best is just not good enough."
Mr Karauria said ACRP had pioneered a never before seen approach to health delivery in a New Zealand prison, and the outstanding results were a tribute to fresh new ideas, a brand new approach and a committed and united staff.
He said the challenge now was for all other New Zealand prisons to start achieving similar results or to explain why they would not.
"ACRP has achieved this accreditation because 'good enough' is not good enough for us. Only when prisons in this country start to exceed their minimum requirements will they start to succeed in genuinely rehabilitating and reintegrating our people."
ENDS