Standards for Palliative Healthcare Services
The accredited Standards for Palliative Healthcare Services are the only Standards that exist in South Africa for institutions that provide palliative care (aside from hospitals and clinics).
The APCC (then known as the HPCA), the Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa and APCC members have worked long and hard on the Standards and with the accreditation confirmation in December 2020, this is a big step towards formalising the policies, systems, procedures, competencies and resources required to deliver vital palliative care.
The APCC offers a mentorship programme on Standards implementation to members and this platform is available to any other organisations that wish to implement the Standards for Palliative Healthcare Services.
The mentorship programme is structured to assist members and other service providers to meet the international standards compliance requirements and to be recommended for an external survey by COHSASA towards the achievement of international accreditation status of the organisation.
The 4th edition of the STANDARDS FOR PALLIATIVE HEALTHCARE SERVICES are available free of charge to members and at a fee to anyone else. Please email: amanda@apcc.org.za to receive a free copy of the Standards and email buystandards@apcc.org.za for fee detail.
The full list of contents are available here . This 4th edition of the Standards was released in 2020. They are currently under revision and the 5th edition will most likely be released in 2024 with the new brand.
For more information on the mentorship programme, please email leigh@apcc.org.za.
Table 1: Summary of the Standards for Palliative Healthcare Services
| Management performance area | Service element | Number of standards | Number of criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Organisation Management | 1. Management and Leadership 2. Human Resource Management 3. Administrative Support, Facility and Equipment Management 4. Risk Management | 20 13 14 7 | 104 74 85 39 |
| Patient Care | 5. Access to Care and Patient Rights 6. Interdisciplinary Team 7. Holistic Patient Care 8. Medication Management | 9 5 17 10 | 38 24 99 58 |
| Ancillary Services | 9. Support Services | 13 | 66 |
| Education and Research | 10. Education and Research | 4 | 30 |
| Totals: | 112 | 617 | |