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HEALTH AND DISABILITY CERTIFICATION
The Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 replaces the old licensing and registration process with a certification scheme for organisations that provide hospital, rest home or residential care for people with disabilities. These changes came into effect from 1 October 2002 and currently licensed or registered providers had until 1 October 2004 to make the transition to certification.
New service providers have to meet the requirements of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 and be certified before they can provide a service.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 is to:
- promote the safe provision of health and disability services to the public
- enable the establishment of consistent and reasonable standards for the safe provision of health and disability services to the public
- encourage providers of health and disability services to take responsibility for the safe provision of those services to the public
- encourage providers of health and disability services to continue to improve the quality of those services.
All hospitals, old people's homes and homes for people with disabilities will need to meet the following standards:
- Health and Disability Sector Standards NZS8134: 2001
- Infection Control NZS8142: 2000
- Restraint Minimisation and Safe Practice: NZS8141: 2001
Hospitals, old people's homes and homes for people with disabilities that provide mental health services will also need to meet the following standard:
- National Mental Health Sector Standard NZS8143: 2001
HEALTH AND DISABILITY CERTIFICATION AUDIT PROCESS
Step 1.
Contact us. We will come and see you or send out an application form. Complete the form and send it back.
Step 2.
An auditor will make contact with you to discuss your needs and assess the best audit solution for your organisation.
Step 3.
Apply to Ministry of Health for Certification and nominate Verification New Zealand Ltd as your DAA. We can do this for you if you wish.
Step 4.
An option exists for a pre-assessment visit(s). This provides an indication of the issues to be resolved prior to full certification audit. We can discuss your organisation's needs and set up a pre-assessment audit plan for you that may include an onsite audit.
Step 5.
Once your documentation is ready to be assessed your auditor will complete a document review of your systems against the standard. This will be completed in our offices as a desk audit. Any issues from this should be addressed before the onsite audit.
Step 6.
An onsite audit will be completed. This will involve:
- an opening meeting to brief staff on the process
- a tour of the facility
- review of actual implementation of your system with relevant employees
- closing meeting to discuss the audit findings.
Step 7.
A report will be provided to you for review and sign-off before being submitted to the Ministry of Health.
Step 8.
The report is submitted electronically to the Ministry of Health. Certification is granted by the Ministry of Health.
Step 9.
A surveillance audit at the halfway point of the Certification period, as specified in the Conditions of Certification issued by the Ministry of Health.
Step 10.
A full recertification audit at the end of the certification period (that is after one, two or three years).
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