The National Standards for Mental Health Services (2010) and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2011) have been developed to guide continuous improvements in safety and quality in health care delivery. They incorporate principles of engaging in partnership with the people who use services, and supporting their recovery.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, in collaboration with the National Mental Health Commission, is conducting a study on the implementation of both sets of standards in mental health services in the public, private and community managed sectors.
The project involves activities to gain a comprehensive understanding of:
- Current levels of implementation of the NSMHS
- Enablers, barriers and challenges to their implementation
- Implementation of the NSQHS Standards in mental health services
- Any potential gaps with respect to safety and quality in the Standards.
The project will include the following stages:
- Identifying the national cohort of mental health services
- A national online survey
- Focus groups and interviews with people responsible of the implementation and delivery of the standards at organisational and service level and people with lived experience of mental health issues.
National Online Survey Open Now
The online survey will be conducted from 29 April to 31 May 2013. We’re keen to hear from people who work in all kinds of roles in mental health services, to know what has worked well, what has been difficult and what the barriers to implementation have been.
We’re also seeking feedback from mental health service users about how they see the services they access implementing the standards.
The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. All responses are confidential, and information will not be attributed to any individual or organisation.
Complete the online survey now.
A series of focus groups will be conducted from July to September in all States and Territories. These are designed to gather local knowledge about implementation of the standards, to strengthen and understand the data collected in the survey.
Register your interest in participating in a focus group.
The information gathered in this project will enable us to identify any safety and quality gaps in the standards as well as give us a better understanding of implementation challenges. It will also contribute to the future work of both Commissions.
If you have any questions about the survey or the overall project, please contact Andrew Moors.