Establishing a quality assurance committee

Deciding if a committee should be a quality assurance committee

Under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, a quality assurance committee must meet specific requirements.

It must:

• assess and evaluate the quality of health services
• report and make recommendations
• monitor the implementation of its recommendations
• have members with appropriate training and experience
• benefit from immunities and protections.

Not every safety or quality committee needs to be a quality assurance committee.

Legal protections

These questions will help you decide if your committee should have quality assurance committee protections.

• Will the committee get information from someone who needs protection from liability for sharing it?
• Could committee members need protection from liability for something they do or don't do, including protection against defamation?
• Will the committee's documents, or information created or shared by members need legal protection?

Who can establish a quality assurance committee

• Director-General, Queensland Health
• Chief executives of hospital and health services
• Professional associations, colleges, or societies
• Licensees of private health facilities

Two or more of these groups can also establish a committee together.

Establish a quality assurance committee

Contact the Patient Safety and Quality team to talk about establishing a committee. Email quality-assurance-committee@health.qld.gov.au.