Department of Health

Credentialling of healthcare professionals in residential aged care

Key messages

  • Specific guidelines are available for credentialling of GPs and senior doctors providing care in a residential aged care facility (RACF).
  • All medical practitioners working in a RACF must adhere to a minimum standard of credentialling and scope of clinical practice.
  • Health services operating RACFs should promote credentialling as part of a strong collaborative relationship with their medical practitioners.
  • The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners ‘Silver Book’ is a practical and effective guide to collaboration between senior doctors and RACFs.

The Department of Health & Human Services has developed a series of policy guidelines to support the credentialling of general practitioners (GPs) and other senior doctors who provide services to residents of publicly operated residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

Under the guidelines, any medical practitioner providing care in an RACF governed by a public health service is bound by the credentialling and scope of practice processes utilised by that health service.

For RACFs operated by a state-funded incorporated association, medical practitioners must adhere to a ‘minimum standard’ of credentialling and scope of practice, which comprises:

  • medical registration (verified by the RACF on the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria)
  • medical indemnity cover (required for registration and implicit in the registration check)
  • a reasonable verification of identity by facility staff (including photo identification if the medical practitioner is not known to the facility).

Collaboration between RACFs and medical practitioners

Health services operating RACFs are expected to promote credentialling as part of a strong collaborative relationship with their medical practitioners in order to ensure the highest standards of care for residents.

This also promotes the involvement of medical practitioners in the development, monitoring and refinement of quality clinical practice within the RACF.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) ‘Silver Book’ (Medical care of older persons in residential aged care facilities, 4th edition, 2006) provides an excellent basis for collaboration between medical practitioners and RACFs.

Credentialling guidelines and form

The department has produced a factsheet outlining the process for credentialling medical practitioners in RACFs, together with an application form to help health services document the credentialling of individual practitioners attending their facilities.

Downloads

Guidelines for credentialling Medical Practitioners in RACF
pdf 27.2 KB
Credentialling form for Medical Practitioners in RACF
doc 41.5 KB

Reviewed 05 October 2015

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Consumer Partnerships and Quality Standards Department of Health & Human Services

Phone +61 3 9096 6176
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