The Royal Women’s Hospital has provided health services to women and newborn babies of Victoria since 1856. The Women's is a public health service and is incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the Health Services Act 1988 (as amended).
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The functions of the board of a public health service are prescribed by the Health Services (Governance and Accountability) Act 2004. Some of those functions are:
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- to develop statements of priorities and strategic plans for the operation of the public health service and to monitor compliance with those statements and plans;
- to develop financial and business plans, strategies and budgets to ensure accountable and efficient provision of health services by the public health service and the long-term financial viability of the public health service;
- to establish and maintain effective systems to ensure that the health services provided meet the needs of the communities served by the public health service and that the views of users and providers of health services are taken into account;
- to monitor the performance of the public health service; and
- to facilitate health research and education.
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In performing its functions and exercising its powers, the board of a public health service must have regard to:
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- the needs and views of patients and other users of the health services that the public health service provides and the community that the public health service serves;
- the need to ensure that the public health service uses its resources in an effective and efficient manner; and
- the need to ensure that resources of the Victorian public health sector generally are used effectively and efficiently.
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Accreditation
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The Royal Women's Hospital is principally accredited through its participation in The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP).
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Some of our services - for example, pathology and reproductive services - also undertake additional certification processes such as ISO 9002, the International Standards Organisation for Quality Management System 9000.
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About ACHS
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The ACHS works with health care professionals and consumers to develop and continually review standards for health care in Australia.
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These standards have been widely reviewed and subjected to rigorous pilot testing so that they reflect contemporary best practice principles, and are achievable and measurable.
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The standards are industry specific and equally applicable to all health care organisations including, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, day surgeries, community health services, aero-medical and ambulance services.
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The principles underpinning ACHS standards are all consumer focused and include:
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- evidence of outcomes;
- strong leadership;
- a strong commitment to quality improvement; and
- a culture encouraging best practice.
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ACHS standards are well recognised internationally, ACHS accreditation tells consumers and other stakeholders that an organisation has achieved excellence through:
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- a rigorous process of external peer review to meet world class standards for patient care;
- performance outcomes that provide data for benchmarking standards throughout the health care system; and
- striving to improve outcomes of care and respect for the individual.
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