Read the nine new standards below and ask yourself the questions I have posed follow the standard, if you cannot say Yes to all the questions you need to reflect on your practice considering these new guidelines and act now!
Standard 1. Provide person-centred care — Do you consider the impact of your decisions on your patients?
Standard 2. Work in partnership with others– What other professionals involved in your patient’s care do you work with in your practice?
Standard 3. Communicate effectively—How do you check that the patient or professional you have communicated with has understood what you said?
Standard 4. Maintain, develop and use their professional knowledge and skills—When did you last make a CDP entry? When did you last reflect on your practice?
Standard 5. Use professional judgement – Do you record your professional decisions? Do you work within your competence?
Standard 6. Behave in a professional manner: Are you honest and work with integrity?
Standard 7. Respect and maintain the person’s confidentiality and privacy: This is a given and informed consent to share either patient data or employer’s data should be sought.
Standard 8. Speak up when they have concerns or when things go wrong: Do you have a whistleblowing policy? Do you discuss near misses? Do you carry our root cause analysis and look for trends?
Standard 9. Demonstrate leadership—How do you check the competence of your staff?