For hospitals, day procedure services and general practices in Australia
NSQHS and RACGP accreditation software, for the whole organisation.
wai runs booking, clinical notes, patient messaging, payments and records, and keeps every one of them as evidence an assessor can read. Patients see the fee before they commit and are answered in their own language, and the AI scribe drafts notes and letters for clinicians to sign, built to help you achieve accreditation under the NSQHS Standards or the RACGP Standards for general practices.
03Preventing and Controlling Infections StandardInfections are prevented and managed, and antimicrobials are prescribed and used well.4 criteria
Clinical governance and quality improvement systems are in place to prevent and control infections, and support antimicrobial stewardship and sustainable use of infection prevention and control resources
06Communicating for Safety StandardCommunication at handover, and whenever critical information changes, is timely, structured and documented.5 criteria
Clinical governance and quality improvement to support effective communication
08Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration StandardA patient's acute deterioration, physical, cognitive or mental, is recognised promptly and acted on.3 criteria
Clinical governance and quality improvement to support recognition and response systems
Detecting and recognising acute deterioration, and escalating care
Assessors judge actual performance from observation, interviews and records.2
01
Records
Healthcare records, audits, reports and the minutes that show systems working, reviewed against each action.
02
Observation
Assessors watching care and the care environment, on site.
03
Workforce interviews
Clinicians and staff asked how they use the safety and quality systems.
04
Consumer interviews
Patients and consumers asked about their care, in person.
05
Facility inspection
The premises, equipment and reprocessing areas, inspected on site.
06
Governing body
What the governing body reads, and the actions it takes on safety and quality.
How is an NSQHS assessment decided?
Assessors rate each action, and accreditation is awarded when every relevant action is Met or Met with recommendations.3
MetThe action is in place
Met with recommendationsCounts, with remediation to follow
Not metRemediate, or accreditation is not awarded
24 hours
notice of the start date is all an NSQHS assessment gives. Every NSQHS assessment is short notice.4
60 days
business days, at most, to remediate actions rated Not met or Met with recommendations.3
2 or 3 years
is how long accreditation is awarded for, depending on the assessment model.3
The accrediting agency sends an initial report, with a rating for every action, within 5 business days.
A significant risk found at assessment needs the service's action plan within 48 hours.
Accreditation is awarded when every relevant action is rated Met or Met with recommendations at final assessment.
Some services must be reassessed within six months, depending on how many actions were rated Not met or Met with recommendations.
What is changing in 2026?
Two new editions have been published or drafted in 2026, and neither is used for assessment yet.
In force today are the NSQHS Standards, second edition, for hospitals and day procedure services, and the RACGP Standards for general practices, 5th edition, for general practice under the NGPA Scheme.
Proposed, not final. The initial draft of the NSQHS Standards, third edition, consolidates the 8 standards into 3, the Clinical Governance, Person-Centred Practice and Safe Clinical Systems Standards. Public consultation has closed, a pilot is planned for 2027, release is anticipated in 2028 and assessment in 2030.5
Released, not yet assessed. The RACGP released the 6th edition on 26 August 2026. The Commission says arrangements for assessment against it will be provided in due course, and encourages practices to start implementing it now.
How the RACGP Standards for general practices work in 2026
Accreditation under the NGPA Scheme currently uses the 5th edition. The 6th edition was released on 26 August 2026, and the Commission will publish the transition arrangements.
The 5th edition has 3 modules, Core, Quality improvement and General practice, with 17 standards and 44 criteria. Each indicator is rated Met, Not met, Not applicable or Not assessed.6
Accreditation is awarded for three years once every relevant mandatory indicator is met. A practice has up to 65 business days to remediate an indicator rated Not met.
The 6th edition has 5 standards, Foundations of general practice, Clinical governance, Patient participation, Continuous quality improvement and an optional Point of care testing standard. It drops flagged and unflagged indicators for criteria, most of them mandatory.
What to do now. Keep meeting the 5th edition for your next assessment, and start building the 6th edition into your systems. wai keeps the evidence for both in the same record.
5th edition module
Standards
Criteria
Core module
Communication and patient participation, rights and needs of patients, practice governance and management, health promotion and preventive activities, clinical management of health issues, information management, content of patient health records, and education and training of non-clinical staff
24
Quality improvement module
Quality improvement, clinical indicators and clinical risk management
7
General practice module
Access to care, comprehensive care, qualifications of our clinical team, reducing the risk of infection, the medical practice, and vaccine potency
13
Who licenses private hospitals and day procedure services?
The Commission sets the standards. States and territories license the premises and decide which standards apply. Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia regulate practitioners, not premises.7
Licenses private hospitals and day hospitals. From 1 October 2026 the NSQHS Standards second edition are prescribed, and the Cosmetic Surgery Standards for cosmetic surgery.
The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme
Registers practitioners in 16 professions, with 15 National Boards. Not premises.
Which other national standards might apply?
Two more sets of standards matter to private clinics. Whether either is required depends on your regulator, licence or contract.
The National Safety and Quality Cosmetic Surgery Standards (2023) have 7 standards and apply where cosmetic surgery is performed, not to non-surgical procedures such as injectables. A service already accredited to the NSQHS Standards can add the Cosmetic Surgery Module, 20 actions, in a single assessment.8
The National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards have 3 standards, Clinical Governance, Partnering with Consumers and Clinical Safety. Services may choose accreditation to them, or be required to by contract, funding or licence.
What should NSQHS and RACGP accreditation software actually run?
wai runs booking, notes, messaging, payments and access, and each one leaves a record mapped to the NSQHS Standards.
01
Appointments and booking
Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.
Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
For the business
Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
On the record
Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
02
Billing and payments
Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.
A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
For the business
Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
On the record
What was charged, when, against which visit, and the policy the patient saw.
03
AI scribe and clinical notes
The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to current guidance and peer reviewed research, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.
The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
For the business
Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
On the record
A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
04
Follow-ups and patient messaging
WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.
A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
For the business
More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
On the record
The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
05
Referrals, consent and audit trails
Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.
How does wai evidence each NSQHS and RACGP standard?
For each standard, the records wai keeps, how you produce them, and what changes for patients and the business.
Clinical Governance Standard
Weekly reports and a full audit trail give the governing body a current view of safety and quality.
Healthcare records available at the point of care, signed and timed, as Action 1.16 asks
Every read and change of a record logged against a named account
Incidents reviewed from the audit trail and the record itself
Front desk, response, takings and website reports for the governing body
On request. Asked how the governing body monitors safety and quality, show the reports it already reads.
For patients
Problems found in the record are fixed for the next patient.
For the business
Governance decisions are based on current figures.
Partnering with Consumers Standard
Consent, costs and conversations are recorded on the patient's own record, in the patient's language.
Replies drafted in the language the patient writes in, approved by your team
Consent taken at booking, and the consent discussion in the signed note
The fee and the cancellation policy shown before the patient commits
Feedback and complaints on the patient's own thread, with response times
On request. Open any patient's thread. The language, the speed and the follow-through are all there.
For patients
Decisions explained, in words they understand.
For the business
More reviews and referrals from patients who were well looked after.
Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard
Your infection control programme is run by your team. The signed note records each prescribing decision.
Antimicrobial decisions written in the signed note, with the guidance they cite
Patient information sent in the patient's own language
Recalls a clinician approves, for review after a procedure
Every read and change of a record logged against a named account
On request. Pull a consultation, and the prescribing decision and its reasoning sit in the note.
For patients
Clear advice on what to watch for at home.
For the business
Antimicrobial prescribing can be reviewed from the record.
Medication Safety Standard
Medicines decisions are written into the signed note and carried into every letter.
Patient flags for controlled drugs on the record
Medicines discussed and decided, in the signed note
Letters and referrals carrying the medicines list, written from the visit
The signing clinician named on every note and letter
On request. Asked how a medicine was reconciled at a visit, open the note and its transcript side by side.
For patients
Their medicines explained, and written down.
For the business
Fewer calls chasing what was prescribed.
Comprehensive Care Standard
The care plan is drafted from the consultation, for the clinician to edit and sign.
Notes written from the consultation, with the patient's goals in their own words
Referrals and letters written from the visit, signed by the clinician
Follow-ups and recalls a clinician approves
Restricted safeguarding notes, seen only by the right roles
On request. Show the plan, the follow-up and who signed each, from one record.
For patients
Follow-up arrives when the plan says it should.
For the business
Less time rebuilding a history the team already took.
Communicating for Safety Standard
Handover letters are written from the visit, signed and timed, and kept on the record.
Handover and referral letters written from the visit, signed and timed
Contemporaneous notes, with any amendment signed again
One thread per patient, so a concern raised by a family reaches the team
Every read of a record logged, so you know who saw the handover
On request. Asked for a handover, open the letter, the note behind it and who signed both.
For patients
Fewer repeated questions at the next appointment.
For the business
Fewer transfers returned for missing information.
Blood Management Standard
Where blood is used, the decision and the consent are on the record.
The consent discussion recorded in the signed note
The clinical decision and its reasoning, written from the consultation
Every change to the record logged against a named account
Where a service uses no blood products, the actions may be not applicable
On request. Show the consent and the decision for any transfusion, from the note itself.
For patients
Told what is proposed, and why, before it happens.
For the business
Documentation that stands up without a separate audit.
Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration Standard
Messages from patients and families reach your team on one thread, with a response clock.
WhatsApp, email and calls on one thread per patient, with a response clock
Messages answered in the patient's own language
Escalation and response written into the contemporaneous note
The audit trail showing who saw a concern, and when
On request. Show how a worried patient reached you after discharge, and how fast you answered.
For patients
A reply from the team when something feels wrong after a visit.
For the business
Concerns caught early, before they become incidents.
What do patients and the business gain?
Published research on response times, ambient scribes and appointment reminders.
7x
An enquiry answered within the hour is nearly seven times as likely to become a real conversation.9
30%
Clinicians using an ambient scribe did 30% less work after hours.10
23%
Patients sent a notification before their visit were 23% more likely to attend.11
How does wai surface accreditation evidence on request?
What assessors ask for, where it is kept, and how it is produced.
Asked forWhere it livesHow it is produced
Healthcare recordsThe patient record, beside the transcriptOpen the consultation. Note, transcript, citations, signature and time, together.
Informed consentThe booking and the noteThe recording notice the patient saw at booking, and the consent discussion in the signed note.
Clinical handoverLetters and referralsThe handover letter, the note it was written from, and who signed both.
Audit trailsEvery recordWho read or changed it, under which account, to the minute.
IncidentsThe record and its historyThe exact sequence of events, from the audit trail, for your incident review.
Costs the patient sawBooking and paymentsThe fee and the cancellation policy shown before the patient committed.
Consumer feedbackThe patient's threadEvery message, review request and complaint, with response times.
Credentialing and scopeYour own credentialing records, with accounts and rolesYour organisation keeps credentialing. Every action taken under each named account sits beside it.
How do you prepare for an NSQHS or RACGP assessment?
A readiness checklist, by standard.
01Before the assessment
Confirm which standards apply to you, and which actions or indicators are not applicable, with your accrediting agency.
Name who answers for each standard, and who holds its evidence.
Run the Commission's monitoring tool or a self-assessment, and close what it finds.
Keep a one-page summary of how the service runs, and what improved this year.
02Clinical governance
The reports the governing body reads, and the actions it took.
Your last three incidents, what you learned and what changed.
Credentialing and scope of practice current for every clinician.
A record of who accessed patient records, and why.
03Partnering with consumers
How informed consent is taken, recorded and revisited.
How a patient who does not speak English is cared for.
Feedback received this quarter, and what you changed because of it.
Costs explained before care, in writing.
04Communicating for safety
Three approved patient identifiers used at every transfer of care.
Five handovers an assessor could read cold, signed and dated.
How critical information reaches the clinician who can act on it.
Notes documented contemporaneously, with changes visible.
05General practice
Every 5th edition mandatory indicator mapped to its evidence.
Follow-up of results and referrals that closes, with a record.
One quality improvement activity this year, with its result.
A plan for the 6th edition, started now.
What will an assessor ask you?
Questions assessors commonly ask, what to show, and where it is kept.
01Show me how you learned from your last incident.
What to show
The sequence of events, the review, and what changed afterwards.
Where wai has it ready
The audit trail gives the exact sequence, to the minute, from the record itself.
02How do you know your healthcare records are complete and contemporaneous?
What to show
Notes made at the time, signed, with any change visible.
Where wai has it ready
Notes are written during the visit and signed with a time, and an amended note is signed again.
03How is informed consent obtained and recorded?
What to show
What the patient was told, when they agreed, and where it is written.
Where wai has it ready
Recording consent is taken at booking, and the consent discussion is in the signed note.
04What information goes with a patient at clinical handover?
What to show
The minimum content you defined, in a structured letter, signed.
Where wai has it ready
Handover and referral letters are written from the visit, and the signing clinician is named on each.
05How do you communicate with patients who speak another language?
What to show
Conversations and information in the patient's own language.
Where wai has it ready
Replies are drafted in the language the patient writes in, and approved by your team.
06How do patients know what their care will cost?
What to show
Fees and policies shown before the patient commits.
Where wai has it ready
The fee and cancellation policy are shown at booking, and the invoice sits in the patient's app.
07Who can see patient records, and how would you know?
What to show
Roles, access controls and an access log.
Where wai has it ready
Role-based access enforced in the database, and every read logged against a named account.
08How does the governing body monitor safety and quality?
What to show
The reports leaders read, and the decisions they led to.
Where wai has it ready
Front desk, response, takings and website reports, read by leaders every week.
What rides on NSQHS accreditation, and what licensing a private facility costs
Assessment outcomes are reported publicly, accreditation is tied to private health insurance benefits, and state licences carry their own published fees.
Public
The Commission publishes the outcomes of assessments to the NSQHS Standards, so patients and the profession can see how services perform.1
Second tier
default benefit eligibility under the Private Health Insurance (Benefit Requirements) Rules 2011 depends on NSQHS accreditation, which interim accreditation satisfies for a new service.3
$10,598
is the published 2026 to 27 fee to grant a licence for a private hospital in Western Australia treating fewer than 25 patients, with a renewal fee of $5,046 each year after.12
What is the best NSQHS or RACGP accreditation software?
The system your organisation already runs on, so the evidence is recorded as the work is done. Look for one record behind booking, notes, messaging, payments and access, with contemporaneous notes and a full audit trail. wai is built that way, to help you achieve accreditation.
Is there NSQHS or RACGP approved software?
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care sets the NSQHS Standards and approves the independent accrediting agencies that assess against them. It does not approve, certify or endorse software, wai included, and software cannot earn an accreditation decision on a provider's behalf. wai keeps the records your team uses to show your accrediting agency how care is delivered, and your accrediting agency decides the accreditation decision. The RACGP writes the Standards for general practices, and does not endorse software either.
Who has to be accredited to the NSQHS Standards?
All public and private hospitals, day procedure services and most public dental practices are required by health regulators to be accredited to them. Other services may be required to by a contract, funding or licence, or choose to be.
Is the RACGP 6th edition in force?
It was released on 26 August 2026, but accreditation under the NGPA Scheme currently uses the 5th edition. The Commission will publish the transition arrangements, and encourages practices to start implementing the 6th edition now.
When do the NSQHS Standards third edition start?
Not yet. The initial draft went to public consultation in 2026, a pilot is planned for 2027, release is anticipated in 2028 and assessment in 2030. Until then, keep using the second edition.
How does wai handle billing?
wai takes card payments into your own Stripe account, shows the fee and cancellation policy at booking, and reconciles every payment against its visit, with an export for your accountant.
Does wai work for hospitals and multi-site groups?
Yes. Every location runs on the same record, inbox and reports. Larger organisations usually start with one pathway, prove it on their own data, and widen it from there.
Where does wai keep our records?
Records hosted in Australia, set up with your organisation. Encrypted, with a full audit log.
