Delivering the best possible healthcare requires high standards of practice.
Our team members are guided and supported by Slade’s internal governance quality team – the Quality and Medication Safety Unit (QSMU).
Governance and education
We’re committed to supporting our hospital and specialist partners to meet best practice standards
At Slade Pharmacy, quality is at the heart of everything we do.
Our quality commitmentsOur quality commitments
Ensure that clinical governance principles, processes and systems are embedded through pharmacy services to promote safety and excellence in patient care
Support healthcare service providers to improve the quality use of medicines, antimicrobial and opioid stewardship, and achieve medication management related goals required by accreditation standards
We have robust quality management systems that underpin the manufacture of customised medications for our patients. Our raw materials are sourced only from qualified suppliers who meet our high standards of testing and quality control. We routinely test our sterile and non-sterile compounded medicines to ensure that our final products are of the highest quality and meet the needs of our patients and their doctors.
Excellence in pharmacy services
The QSMU leads the development of continued quality improvement which aligns with relevant accreditation standards, to safeguard the delivery of the best possible service across Icon Group’s footprint in collaboration with hospital partners.
The QSMU supports our pharmacies to deliver safe and high-quality service through initiatives including:
- Quality assurance audit program for hospitals, oncology, clinical trials and general practice
- Suite of standardised pharmacy policies, procedures and guidelines
- Medicines-related publications for pharmacy team members and healthcare professionals
- Education and training materials to ensure pharmacy team members have the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary for their role
- Technology and workforce innovation to further enhance quality and efficiency
- Managing clinical risk systems to improve safety, including medication incidence
- Implementation of interest groups across clinical areas
- Facilitation of hospital customer satisfaction survey
Your partner in clinical education
We work with our hospital partners to ensure a systematic and consistent approach to best practice pharmacy services through quality improvement activities which satisfy the relevant accreditation standards required by external bodies such as ACHS and ACSQHC.
Medication Safety Network
Medication Safety Network is a learning network of pharmacists and technicians that supports the development and implementation of medication safety programmes and solutions through communication, collaboration, and innovation.
The Medication Safety Network fosters connection of the Quality and Medication Safety Unit (QSMU) as the governance body of the Icon Group to frontline team members.
Antimicrobial Stewardship Working Group
The Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Working Group is a small group of pharmacists with experience in AMS who lead managers and pharmacy team members in meeting best practice and quality use of antimicrobials. The Working Group is accountable for the delivery of the Icon Group Pharmacy AMS Framework, develop AMS materials and activities, and provide relevant communication to the broader group.
Opioid Stewardship
Our Opioid Analgesic Stewardship Program is an industry leading intervention designed to improve, monitor, and evaluate the use of opioids in pain management. The program directly supports the Australian Commission of Safety Quality Healthcare (ACSQHC) National Opioid Analgesic Stewardship in Acute Pain Clinical Care Standard and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia Standard of Practice in Pain Management.
Through this surveillance program, Icon Group is committed to ensuring the quality use of opioids for the treatment of acute pain to promote optimal patient outcomes.
Clinical decision-making tools & resources
In order to support our team members to deliver the best possible care to their patients, pharmacy team members have access to several key online clinical and practice-based tools and resources including Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH), electronic Therapeutic Guidelines and AusDI.
Our commitment to clinical education extends to keeping our partners abreast of industry developments and policy changes through posters, flyers and other communications on wards and in clinical settings. We are here to support our hospital partners and are dedicated to delivering exceptional service through our governance and education.
Clinical interest groups
Clinical interest groups are networks of learning that utilise the expertise of Icon Group pharmacy team members in a practice area and support social learning through discussions with peers.
Each clinical interest area has a dedicated Microsoft Team page. An online discussion forum is facilitated via the Microsoft Team application.
Current publications
Our hospital partners can be confident that their pharmacy service is informed by best practice and driven by exceptional patient care.
Our commitment to clinical education extends to keeping our partners across the latest information relating to medication safety and management. The Quality and Medication Safety Unit author several publications released at various intervals throughout the year. Our training materials aim to broaden the capability and knowledge of our workforce and the care teams that we support. This includes:
- Did you Know? – Brief informative posters for healthcare professionals on medication safety, antimicrobials and optimising therapy
- Risk of the Month – Pharmacy practice education posters for pharmacy team members related to medication safety and quality use of medicines
- Medication Safety Bulletin* – Education for healthcare professionals regarding medication safety topics
- Circuit – Educational newsletters on contemporary therapeutics, medication safety, cancer care and new medicines for healthcare professionals
*Available to our valued hospital partners. Please email if you would like to access these.