Department of Health

Assessment against the National Standards

Health services should be accredited against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (National Standards) and those using blood and blood products need to meet the requirements of the Blood Management Standard. There are many resources available to help health services achieve accreditation against the National Standards.

The Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation (AHSSQA) scheme assessor orientation videoExternal Link is available to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the assessment process and the requirements of assessors.

There is also an assessor orientation courseExternal Link available.

To help prepare for assessment against the National StandardsExternal Link the AHSSQA provides:

  • user guides
  • accreditation workbooks
  • advisories
  • factsheets.

Of particular interest are:

The Blood Management Standard

The Blood Management Standard covers all elements of blood management and transfusion practice, which includes the principals and practices of Patient Blood Management (PBM).

The intention of the Blood Management standard is to identify risks, put in place strategies, ensure that a patient’s own blood is optimised and conserved, and that any blood or blood product transfusion is appropriate and safe. The Blood Management Standard draws on the principals of PBM and blood stewardship as set out in the Australian health ministers’ conference statement on national stewardship expectations for the supply of blood and blood productsExternal Link .

There are three criteria and ten actions in the Blood Management Standard

Reviewed 08 December 2021

Health.vic

Contact details

Blood Matters Program Australian Red Cross Lifeblood

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