Putting quality at the heart of patient care
13/02/12
Over 150 practices have signed up to the Royal
College of General Practitioners’ Practice Accreditation award
programme since its launch in early 2011. Those enrolled have begun
a process which will mark them out as a forward-thinking and
progressive practice.
Much more than a mark of quality assurance and compliance,
Practice Accreditation helps GP practices enhance their
organisational systems and procedures, such as risk assessment and
processes for notifying patients of staff changes.
The RCGP Practice Accreditation standards reflect key
organisational and administrative aspects of primary care and have
been designed to involve the whole practice team. Practice
accreditation has been developed with the Care Quality Commission
(CQC). Following a consultation, the Department of Health agreed to
postpone the registration of most primary medical services with the
CQC, most of which are GP practices. Registration must now occur by
April 2013.
The CQC has also announced that this postponement will allow
time for practices to engage in quality and accreditation schemes
which may be used by primary medical service providers as evidence
of their compliance with the CQC essential standards.
The RCGP’s Practice Accreditation has been highlighted as a
scheme which may be used in this way. Practices are able to use any
evidence they have to demonstrate compliance, and those practices
that have participated in the RCGP’s Practice Accreditation will be
able to state with confidence that they comply with the essential
standards.
Practice teams that successfully complete the programme will be
able to display the RCGP’s Practice Accreditation logo on their
stationery, and receive a certificate demonstrating to their
patients a commitment to continuous improvement and maintenance of
robust, safe systems and procedures.
The award is open to all practices in England, and provides
practices of all sizes with a manageable, straightforward process
based on online assessment. Practices enrolling on the programme
can call on the dedicated RCGP Accreditation Support team, and an
online interactive web tool has been developed by the College to
assist practices.
Professor Nigel Sparrow, RCGP lead for Practice Accreditation
said: “Practices that enrol in the Practice Accreditation programme
are making a commitment to continuous development of
patient-centred care. The programme has been designed to provide
immediate improvements for patients.
“It will be a benchmark of quality, assuring patients that their
practice is committed to the highest standards of care.”
Read the full statement from CQC and RCGP
CQC registration and quality
programmes - joint statement from CQC and RCGP 
ENDS
Further information
RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7574/7575/7576
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes to editors
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more
than 44,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We
work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general
medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education,
training, research and clinical standards.