Standard AS 5369

It has come to my attention that there are some ill-informed rumours circulating that New Zealand will not be adopting AS5369.

THESE RUMOURS ARE UNTRUE.

I have spent time liaising with the Ministry of Health over this and they state that:

• Under the Health and Disability Sector Act Section 5.5.8  the newest version of the Standard AS5369 will be the document used for auditing purposes.
• The Ministry of Health has advised Te Whatu Ora’s Chief Allied Professions Officer Sue Waters of this change and she is supportive of this and will communicate this out to the Allied Professions leaders.
•  As the professions regulator , the NZSSA has the right to advise all members that in the absence of a current NZ or AS/NZ standard that AS5369 shall be used as best practice standard.

The Ministry of Health will be liaising with the health certification team also on this matter.

I hope that this is now clear for everyone.

Regards

Shelagh Thomas

President NZSSA