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Certification of Healthcare Services

Applying for Certification

This section provides online application forms and all the supporting information you need to assist you in making an application for certification under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001.

Applications
An application can be completed online:

If you are unable to submit an application online please contact us for the necessary forms.

Supporting information

The Act and relevant Standards

Information on the Act and relevant Standards that will help your prepare for certification is available on the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 page.

Required supporting documents and payment

A completed and signed declaration form - this form can be printed as part of the online application process.
Payment of the application fee of $410 - an invoice can be printed as part of the online application process.
An audit of the services to be provided by a designated auditing agency.

Additional supporting documents for new providers

A copy of your Certificate of Incorporation.
A copy of the building warrant of fitness or code Compliance certificate.
A copy of Fire Service approval of a fire evacuation plan.
If purchasing an existing service(s) then written confirmation will be required from the solicitors acting for both the vendor and the purchaser that settlement has taken place.

Designated auditing agencies

An auditing agency that has been designated by the Director-General of Health needs to be chosen by the provider. The designated auditing agency you choose must be designated to audit the kind of health and/or disability service you provide or intend to provide. A list of designated auditing agencies is provided on this website.

When you apply for certification you will need to include the name of the designated auditing agency you have contracted to audit your service/s against the relevant standards.

When your designated auditing agency has completed audits of the service/s you provide, or intend to provide, the agency will provide a copy of the report to you and the Ministry of Health. The auditing agency also may undertake, at the same time, an audit against your service contract for the Ministry of Health if applicable.

Healthcare Services

The services you may apply to be certified to provide are:

Hospital Care
- Children's Health Services
- Surgical Services
- Medical Services
- Maternity Services
- Mental Health Services
- Geriatric Services
Rest Home Care
Residential Disability Care
- Intellectual Services
- Physical Services
- Sensory Services
- Psychiatric Services

Application processing

The Ministry of Health will make an assessment for the purposes of satisfying the Director-General of Health that your health and/or disability services meets the relevant standards and the requirements of the Act.

This assessment will entail a review of:

your application for certification
the audit report with any corrective actions to be taken
other relevant matters held by the Ministry of Health.

Once all the requirements for certification are met, you will be issued with a certificate for the services you provide.

The Ministry of Health requires 15 working days, from the date of receipt of all required documentation/information from you and your designated auditing agency, to process your application and issue a certificate. Please take this into consideration when deciding to apply. Consult with your auditing agency well in advance to schedule your audit.

Information to be provided to the Director-General of Health

Once certified it is important to be familiar with the information you are required to provide to the Director-General during your period of certification.

A certified provider must advise the Director-General of Health in writing of:

all changes in name, address, or telephone number of the person who should be contacted about the service/s
any new fixed location at which the services are being provided
any change in the membership, partnership or trustees of the service provider
any incident or situation that puts at risk (or potentially could put at risk) the health or safety of the people for whom the service is being provided
any investigation commenced by a member of the police into any aspects of the service
any death of a person to whom you have provided services, or occurring in any premises in which services are provided, that is required to be reported to a coroner under the Coroners Act 1988.

Please ensure you take the time to familiarise yourself with the full details of section 31 of the Act, which details the information that must be provided.

Expiry of certification

Before your certification expires you will need to arrange with your auditing agency for an audit to be completed, and make an application for re-certification. You will need to allow adequate time for this audit and certification process. If your initial certification expires before new certification is approved, you will not be legally entitled to continue to provide the services.

The Ministry of Health requires 15 working days from the date it receives all required documentation/information from you and your designated auditing agency. Please take this into consideration when deciding when to apply. Consult with your auditing agency well in advance to schedule your audit.

Further information

If you require any further information or advice please contact HealthCert.

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Page last updated: 15 June 2009