Introduction
Since 1998, Urgent Care Clinics have had the option of seeking ACC accreditation.
In the accreditation process, Clinics are audited against a written Standard, which was funded by the ACC, administered by Standards New Zealand, and formulated by an 'expert committee', including representatives of CUCP, Clinics, and various others, and then compiled by Standards New Zealand into an UC Clinic  Standards document, which can be purchased from Standards New Zealand.
The ACC has developed a contract for accredited Clinics, which most find favourable.
The Standard addresses many areas that are fundamental to good Urgent Care, and CUCP recommends that Clinics undertake accreditation.

How does a Clinic become accredited?
The first step in seeking accreditation is to engage an approved auditor, who will advise the Clinic on preparation for audit and obtaining a copy of the Standard. Once the Clinic is prepared, the auditor will assess wide-ranging aspects of the Clinic including the Clinic building and fit-out, systems, and compliance with legislation.

Clinics must be reaccredited every three years.

Who are the auditors?
Two groups conduct audits.

1) DAA Group Limited

Contact: Janice McEwan
PO Box 172,  Tai Tapu, Canterbury 7645
Phone: 03 329 6477
Fax:     03 329 6577
Mobile: 029 2347500
Email:  janice.mcewan@daagroup.co.nz
Website:  http://www.daagroup.co.nz

 

Contact: Cathy Cummings
PO Box 5088, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145
Phone: 04 499 0367
Fax:     04 499 0368
Mobile: 021 470 332
Email:  cathy.cummings@daagroup.co.nz
Website:  http://www.daagroup.co.nz

    
2) Health Audit NZ Ltd
Contact Mike Thornber
PO Box 38610 Howick, Auckland 2145.
Phone: 09 5346485
Fax:     09 5328023
Mobile: 0274 977833
Email:  haudit@ihug.co.nz
Website: Health Audit NZ Ltd

Can CUCP help?
Compliance with the Standard can appear daunting at first. CUCP strove to make the Standard practical and useful, though the need to comply with legislation and current quality-assurance industry practices has led to some requirements the purpose of which is not immediately obvious.

Clinics seeking accreditation may wish to contact CUCP for assistance.

CUCP policy and interpretation of the Standard
CUCP has policies around interpretation of some key areas of the Standard.

1) Hours
Generally a facility will be required to be open until 8pm 7 days (8am - 8pm in the weekends).
CUCP policy around exemptions to this criterion is as follows:

I. Rural areas / small provincial towns
CUCP will consider these facilities case-by-case, recognising their staffing difficulties.

II. Urban areas
A. Christmas day
A facility may close provided it enters a formal arrangement with another facility that will open for the Standard hours and is less than a twenty minute drive away. The closing facility must take reasonable measures to advertise the closure to its patients in advance and with signage on the day. 'Reasonable measures' could include, a month in advance, notifying patients of the closure by email, public notice, signs on external windows, in the waiting room and at reception, and by telephone answer message.

B. Other days including public holidays (including Easter Friday, Sunday and Monday)
The usual Standard applies - to close on one of these holidays or other days, a facility must conduct an analysis and show the Community's needs are met despite the closure.
An example of an analysis acceptable to CUCP would be statistics of patient attendance for a reasonable (in CUCP's judgement) number of instances of the holiday in question (from previous years) showing attendance of fewer than two patients per hour in the hours leading up to the proposed closure time.

- It not enough on its own to have an agreement with another facility to cover some of these hours.
- It is not enough to survey the facility's patients asking if they are satisfied with the facility's hours.

2) Medical Director
The Medical director must be a FCUCP or hold written dispensation from CUCP, or be a GP with the DipCEM who is doing UC CME.
CUCP may give such dispensation to an UC trainee who is making satisfactory progress towards Fellowship.
It is not enough for the proposed medical director to be an UC trainee and not hold written dispensation from CUCP.

Training to become a Clinic auditor
DAA offers courses - refer calendar or contact them for details.