Our quality and accreditation program
At BreastScreen Victoria, our mission is to deliver the best possible screening service and outcomes for women. Here’s how our quality and accreditation program guides us in meeting and exceeding standards.
Our approach to best-practice client care
To ensure our clients consistently receive the best experience, we focus on developing and delivering quality systems, processes, skills – and a culture of client-centric care.
We do this by:
- Partnering with clients
- Monitoring governance and performance
- Undergoing accreditation
- Prioritising continuous quality and practice improvement
Our Quality and Clinical Governance
The Quality and Clinical Governance Standing Committee, a Board sub-committee, directs all aspects of quality at BreastScreen Victoria. Everything we do is focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for our clients.
Quality is also overseen by some of our Quality Groups, including:
- Radiology
- Radiography
- Nurse Counsellors
- Data Management
- Program Managers
This gives us the opportunity to identify and resolve issues, working together to improve our overall service standards.
Each BreastScreen Victoria service also convenes a Service Quality Committee, which ensures consistent attention to the operational and clinical matters that can affect performance.
Our service quality must meet the National Accreditation Standards and achieve the required level of accreditation. The Victorian State Quality Committee supports service providers and the BreastScreen Coordination Unit to achieve and maintain accreditation.
Our accreditation program
Through our rigorous accreditation program, we monitor all BreastScreen Victoria services to ensure they comply with the National Accreditation Standards.
These standards were developed by an expert committee in our national program and are administered by BreastScreen Australia and the National Quality Management Committee. They are based on research evidence and global experience in breast cancer screening.
Standards have been developed for the following domains:
- Participation
- Cancer detection
- Safety and harm minimisation
- Timeliness
- Client focus
The National Accreditation Standards set a minimum benchmark, and most services are expected to perform considerably above the requirements.
The BreastScreen Victoria Coordination Unit and each service across the state are subject to these National Accreditation Standards plus a survey visit every 4 years.